Three deaths in one week after "non-lethal" restraint

Three people have died in police custody in just a week—all were restrained with “non-lethal” weapons.

Philip Hulmes, 53, was shot with a Taser gun at his home in Over Hulton, near Bolton, on Tuesday.

It is believed that before being Tasered, Philip stabbed himself in the abdomen.

Just one day before, on Monday night, Jacob Michael, 25, from Widnes, Cheshire, died after he was arrested by 11 police officers and “restrained” with pepper spray.

He was taken to hospital and died within two hours.

And last week Dale Burns, 27, died in Cumbria after he was both Tasered and pepper-sprayed by police during an arrest.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating all three deaths.

As the court system strains under the weight of mass arrests following the riots, and as young people are being locked up for crimes as “serious” as stealing an ice cream cone, isn’t it time the police looked at the ever increasing scandal of deaths in custody?

Since 1998, over 336 people have died in custody. No police officer has been convicted over these deaths.

We have to make sure the cover-ups stop.

Give Our Kids a Future! A North London Unity Demonstration

A demonstration addressing the causes and concerns which led to this week's rioting has been called this Saturday by the North London Assembly.

We should not forget the role played by the police killing of Mark Duggan in the unrest, nor the everyday harassment of poor communities by police.

Details below are from the Facebook page for the demonstration:

Give Our Kids a Future!

Saturday 13 August from 1pm

Gillett Square Dalston to Tottenham Green

This march is called by The North London Assembly, a temporary Assembly which saw 70 local community activists meet at the North London Community House on Tuesday 9th August to discuss our reaction to the riots of early August in Tottenham and Hackney. It includes people from many Turkish and Kurdish community groups, like Day Mer and Gik Der, and also the Haringay and Hackney Alliances for Public Services who are all supporting this march.
We state that this is not us seeking to represent the community but it is our attempt to try to bring unity to the community in which we live. There are many different views on the events but we are seeking the most positive outcome from them.
This will be a positive and peaceful march with an Assembly at the end for people to express what they are thinking about recent events

Statement 10/8/2011

A North London Unity Demonstration

Saturday 13th August
Assemble Gillet Square, Dalston, N16 at 1pm. March to Tottenham Green, N15

Our communities need a united response to both the riots and the causes of despair and frustration that can result in riots.

We demand:
• A CULTURE OF VALUING, NOT DEMONISING YOUTH AND UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE.
• SUPPORT FOR THOSE AFFECTED BY THE RIOTING, INCLUDING THE IMMEDIATE RE-HOUSING OF PEOPLE MADE HOMELESS AS WELL AS GRANTS FOR AFFECTED
SMALL BUSINESSES.
- COMMUNITY LED REGENERATION AND RESTORATION OF DAMAGED AREAS.
• REVERSAL OF ALL CUTS TO YOUTH SERVICES IN OUR BOROUGHS
• NO CUTS TO PUBLIC SERVICES! INSTEAD, INVESTMENT INTO AND REGENERATION OF OUR COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING HOUSING, JOBS, EDUCATION AND SPORTS
FACILITIES.
• AN INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY INQUIRY INTO POLICING METHODS IN OUR BOROUGHS. AND AN END TO STOP AND SEARCH.
• AVAILABILITY OF LEGAL SUPPORT FOR ALL THOSE PEOPLE ARRESTED BY POLICE - YOUNG PEOPLE FACE POTENTIAL SENTENCES THAT WILL AFFECT THEM, THEIR FAMILIES AND THEIR WIDER COMMUNITIES FOR YEARS TO COME.

We are responding to the events of the last few days, in particular the Tottenham protest over the killing of Mark Duggan and the riots that followed in Tottenham and Hackney.

By coming together and calling for unity we want to encourage all sections of our local communities, young and old,
black and white, residents and workers, to work together to find solutions to some of our long-standing problems.

We know there are all kinds of strong feelings and differing views. We do not claim to represent the whole community, but merely seek to promote unity in the communities in which we live.

Simply labelling rioters as opportunistic criminals does little to relieve tensions and provides a poor explanation for the worst riots in decades. While the shooting of Mark Duggan provided the trigger, against a background of oppressive policing, especially towards ethnic minorities, the root causes are deeper.

Our communities have been blighted by high levels of deprivation, poverty and lack of opportunity for decades. Inequality is growing and recent funding cuts to local services, particularly youth facilities, along with rising unemployment, and cuts to EMA and benefits have exacerbated the conditions in which sections of frustrated young people turned to rioting, which unfortunately has resulted in people losing their homes and small/family businesses losing their livelihoods.

Britain is a wealthy country, but the economic crisis created by greedy bankers and financial speculators is further impoverishing already poor areas like Tottenham and Hackney. The £390 billion of combined wealth of the richest 1,000 people in Britain should be redirected to fund the services we all need.

In the last few months we have seen mass local protests against cuts, student occupations to defend free education, half-a-million strong demonstration on March 26, and 800,000 public service workers out on strike on June 30th.

We need to build on these and other inspiring local and national struggles. Let's work together for a decent society, based not on greed, inequality and poor conditions, but on justice, freedom, sharing and co-operation.

North London Unity Demonstration supported by the Haringey Alliance for Public Services, Hackney Alliance for Defending Public Serices, Day-Mer (Turkish and Kurdish Community Centre), NLCH (North London Community Centre), Day-Mer Youth, Alevi Cultural Centre, Fed-Bir, Kurdish Community Centre: Roj Women, Halkevi, Gik-Der (Refugee Workers Cultural Association). Britania Peace Council: Hundred Flowers Cultural Centre. TOHUM. Socialist Party, Youth Fight For Jobs, Right To Work, Red Pepper.

It's right to protest

The Defend the Right to Protest campaign have called a meeting in the light of continued police violence on protests. At a time when people can be arrested "pre-emptively" for protesting, the need for a united response to these attacks on our civil liberties is greater than ever.

Wednesday 8 June

7pm, University of London Union (ULU), London WC1E 7HY.

Speakers include: Jody McIntyre, Alfie Meadows, Tony Benn, UK Uncut, Bryan Simpson (arrested for occupying Millbank), The Guillotine 3 (under suspicion for conspiracy to commit street theatre during the Royal Wedding), John Mcdonnell MP, Sara Tomlinson –NUT & Stop Kettling our Kids.

Unlawful killing verdict in Ian Tomlinson inquest

Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed by a police officer on 1 April 2009, according to the jury at the inquest into his death.

Ian Tomlinson was struck from behind by PC Simon Harwood during the G20 protests in the City of London.

This is a big victory for Ian's family and all those who have campaigned for justice.

After this decision, pressure must be put back on the Director of Public Prosecutions, Kier Starmer, who last July ruled that PC Harwood would not be prosecuted for manslaughter.

Despite the roadblocks left by the police, the IPCC, the CPS, the DPP and sections of the media, the jury came to its conclusion "beyond reasonable doubt".

Now we must continue to campaign for all those who have died after contact with police, and who have been denied justice for so long.

MPs, activists and trade unionists condemn new attacks

Release from Defend the Right to Protest:

A series of raids and “pre-emptive arrests” in the days leading up to the royal wedding represent a dangerous clampdown on our hard-won right to protest.

Squats have been raided by large teams of police officers. Activists have been arrested on the bizarre charge of “conspiracy to cause public nuisance and breach of the peace” for trying to organize street theatre on the day of the royal wedding. Students arrested after the tuition fees protests have had their bail hearings moved forward and been charged and banned from the City of Westminster.

These include Alfie Meadows, who nearly died of a brain haemorrhage after being hit with a baton on December 9 and has now been charged with violent disorder. This follows the kettling and police violence against student protests and the mass arrest of 148 protestors who peacefully occupied Fortnum & Mason on March 26.

Politicians condemn regimes in the Middle East that do not allow their citizens to speak out against their rulers (some of whom, including the royal families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, are attending the royal wedding today). Yet the political policing that has preceded the royal wedding threatens to do the same in Britain, making it a crime to be a protestor on high profile state occasions.

If this can happen for the royal wedding, how can we be confident that we will be allowed to protest at the opening of Parliament, the Tory Party conference or Chancellor Osborne’s budget announcement?

Now more than ever, as the government cuts threaten the jobs, services, pensions and benefits that millions rely upon, we need to assert our right to protest without fear of arrest and intimidation. We will be protesting outside the first hearing of Fortnum & Mason occupiers on Monday 9 May, 9am, at City of Westminster Magistrates Court and invite everyone who believes in defending our democratic rights to join us there.

Initiated by Defend the Right to Protest

Signatories include:

• Stop Kettling Our Kids
• UK Uncut
• Justice for Alfie Meadows
• United Campaign Against Police Violence
• Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
• Matt Foot – Campaigning Lawyer
• Aamer Anwar – Campaigning Lawyer
• Billy Bragg
• John McDonnell MP
• Katy Clark MP
• Liam Burns – President NUS Scotland
• Mark Serwotka – General Secretary PCS
• Billy Hayes – General Secretary CWU
• Roz Kaveney – Queer Resistance
• Laurie Penny – journalist
• Nina Power – Senior Lecturer Philosophy, Roehampton University
• Michael Chessum – Co-founder National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts
• Mark Bergfeld – NUS NEC, Education Activist Network
• Ashok Kumar LSE SU Education Officer
• Kanja Sessay NUS NEC, Black Students Committee

This is what democracy looks like

Footage of street theater organisers Chris Knight and Camila Power arrested the day before the wedding.

Their "crime" was to organise street theater featuring a replica (but obviously harmless) guillotine.

So there you have it. You can be arrested for using your free speech... before you've even used it.

Chris, a anthropology professor, and Camilla have both been heavily involved in UCAPV. Good luck to them both.

Defend the Right to Protest

The right to protest has been dealt serious blows in recent weeks. Dozens have been raided and arrested simply for planning to protest on the day of the royal wedding. Meanwhile, police raided squats with the excuse that they might also somehow spoil the royals’ big day.

The group Defend the Right to Protest has called several events to organise opposition to these attacks on our civil liberties.

On Thursday the group has called an emergency open meeting in London on how to respond to the attacks. Speakers include Alfie Meadows, who was given brain damage after being beaten by police on the student protests last year, and was later arrested; John McDonnell MP, a Fortnum and Masons occupier, and others.

This from the Defend the Right to Protest Facebook group:

THURS 5 MAY, 6.30PM

CENTRAL LONDON VENUE TBC

Preemptive raids on protesters before the Royal Wedding.....Alfie Meadows who underwent surgery after been hit by a police baton charged with violent disorder......Fortnum and Masons protesters charged with aggravated trespass. This must stop! Please come along and help organise a response to these attacks on our right to protest

"These raids and arrests are outrageously disproportionate and demonstrate the decline that has taken place in the protection of civil liberties in this country. Those arrested must be defended and supported by us all". JOHN McDONNELL MP

"This appears to be a worrying extension of police using powers preemptively to stop people protesting. They claim to be independent and facilitate peaceful protest its difficult to see how they can justify those statements in light of what they are doing" MATT FOOT CAMPAIGNING LAWYER

This will be followed on Monday 9 May with a protest at City Westminster Court, where Fortnum and Mason occupiers have their hearing. 140 were arrested and detained following the occupation on 26 March.

STOP THESE ATTACKS ON OUR RIGHT TO PROTEST

MONDAY 9 MAY, 9AM, CITY WESTMINSTER COURT

Protest outside the hearing of Fortnum & Mason occupiers.

On 26 March, around 140 people were arrested and detained for taking part in the occupation of Fortnum & Mason to highlight tax avoidance. Their protest was peaceful, as documented by eyewitness reports and video footage. They were told by police that they were free to leave – but as soon as the protestors left the building they were arrested. The occupiers now face charges of aggravated trespass and the possibility of a prison sentence.

The Fortnum and Mason arrests are part of a much wider project that threatens the right to protest. The student demonstrations of November and December were regularly kettled and charged by mounted officers or uniformed thugs wielding batons and shields. Tahmeena Bax and Alfie Meadows were peaceful protestors hospitalised by police. Alfie now faces charges of violent disorder – unlike the officers responsible for the brain haemorrhage that nearly killed him.

Faced with unprecedented cuts that threaten to decimate the welfare state, now more than ever we must defend and assert our right to protest. On Monday 9 May join us outside the first of the Fortnum & Mason hearing to defend the protestors facing charges and to remind the government and the police that we can and will exercise our protest without fear of arrest or intimidation.

Stay up to date with our campaign:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Defend-the-Right-to-Protest/178594298855659

http://defendtherighttoprotest.org/