Police pulling man out of wheelchair

[mattx]

If this turns out to be a case of police brutality then I hope the officer / officers are sacked immediately.

 

Student protests video allegedly shows police pulling man out of wheelchair | UK news | The Guardian

[Hightower]

It's all a bit unclear from that video. Whether someone is in a wheelchair or not though, if they are a threat then they need restraining/arresting/dealing with just the same as any other person. To act differently is to discriminate.

[AyatollahPies]

It's all a bit unclear from that video. Whether someone is in a wheelchair or not though, if they are a threat then they need restraining/arresting/dealing with just the same as any other person. To act differently is to discriminate.

 

Surely they could just wheel them out of the way if that's the case.

 

We probably won't get to know the truth. The left wing media will blow it out of proportionate and start ranting about Kettling, and the right wing media will focus on videos of protesters hitting the police etc.

 

We're just Pawns. The protests won't achieve their desired outcome.

[DrummerBoy]

There seems to be an awful lot of chatter around this incident, and reading the guys blog, as well as police blogs, it seems no one was entirely in the right. In his blog he does come across as being a media star wanna be, and freely admits he put himself at the front of the crown in an effort to provoke a reaction, and uses his disability as a weapon.

 

I guess I'll await the outcome of any investigation before coming to a firm conclusion, but, from what I've read so far, he was being moved out of the way of a police horse charge, perhaps a bit roughly.

 

He was also seen later on being sped down the road, by his mates, at high speed laughing and joking.

[tech_guy]

Time to produce another poster to compliment this one:

 

HIT_ME_WITH_YOUR_RHYTHM_STICK

[Dos_Box]

Agreed. There is no context there. What if the wheelchair had been stolen or used as a prop?

[tommej]

Shouldn't have been at the front of what was essentially a riot, they did it for his and their own safety.

 

If he was refusing to move then he should be treated the same way anyone else would be, why is he the only one in the middle of the road?

 

By the way, there is some NSFW language in that video, might want to warn about that next time .

[daz666]

well from the dark footage it looks like he fell from his chair and the nice policemen where helping him......

[somabc]

If this turns out to be a case of police brutality then I hope the officer / officers are sacked immediately.

 

Given that the Police can kill someone during a protest and not lose their jobs I think nothing is going to happen to the Officer.

 

Death of Ian Tomlinson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Hightower]

Given that the Police can kill someone during a protest and not lose their jobs I think nothing is going to happen to the Officer.

 

Death of Ian Tomlinson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

But it's okay for others to hurt/kill the police, like what happened last week when 9 officers were injured?

[somabc]

 

I think the Protestors always seem to be victims of the violence more than the Police.

[tech_guy]

But it's okay for others to hurt/kill the police, like what happened last week when 9 officers were injured?

 

If you assault the police then you deserve everything you've got coming to you, but in the Blair Peach, Ian Tomlinson and Alfie Meadows cases it's totally unacceptable that peaceful & innocent demonstrators / members of the public should be assaulted by police officers and killed / seriously injured.

[witch]

If the guy in the wheelchair was in the way, and other protestors were being picked up and moved, then the correct thing for the police to do would be to pick him and his wheelchair up and move him. To leave his wheelchair behind is an appalling thing to do.

[frosty]

If the guy in the wheelchair was in the way, and other protestors were being picked up and moved, then the correct thing for the police to do would be to pick him and his wheelchair up and move him. To leave his wheelchair behind is an appalling thing to do.

 

Have you ever had to work in that type of hostile environment? I have...the wheelchair will be the last thing on my mind just the life in danger.

[Hightower]

If the guy in the wheelchair was in the way, and other protestors were being picked up and moved, then the correct thing for the police to do would be to pick him and his wheelchair up and move him. To leave his wheelchair behind is an appalling thing to do.

 

Just because he's in a wheel chair it doesn't mean he can't be a nuisance as much as the next person. That's like saying "the police shouldn't have dragged that man away" when we all know he wasn't gonna walk away on his own.

[laserblazer]

I've just found a clearer shot of the guy.

 

http://www.xup.in/pic,16913172/andy_little_britain.jpg

[TechMonkey]

Having tried to wheel away kids that really don't want to move, them flicking the brakes on, trying to spin the wheels the other way or flick one more than the other so they spin round and crash into you, all the while trying to keep other kids around safe and the kid in the wheelchair from slicing a finger off or getting something trapped I think the best course of action was to remove him from the chair and retrieve it later.

[witch]

Just because he's in a wheel chair it doesn't mean he can't be a nuisance as much as the next person. That's like saying "the police shouldn't have dragged that man away" when we all know he wasn't gonna walk away on his own.

 

Not at all - I did NOT say that they should not have moved him - Please don't put words into my mouth - what I said was, the wheelchair should be moved with him as it is effectively part of his body

 

If they did feel that moving him separately was the answer, then they should have moved the wheelchair with him, and put him back in it. Apparently they didn't - his brother had to retrieve the chair later.

Edited December 14, 2010 by witch

[Hightower]

Not at all - I did NOT say that they should not have moved him - Please don't put words into my mouth - what I said was, the wheelchair should be moved with him as it is effectively part of his body

 

I wasn't putting words in your mouth Witch. You've read that all wrong. What I was saying is that when somebody is being a pain and a threat a wheelchair is an obstacle to the officers, and more so a possible weapon to the threat. Their prime objective is to lower the threat - they can worry about the wheelchair after.

 

If an able bodied person is being a threat, you disable them by getting them to the floor and restraining them. That is exactly the same as removing a wheelchair user from the wheelchair.

 

I've seen cop shows where a persons pants have come down when being arrested, but because he is kicking and screaming the police have to worry about restraining him before they can restore his dignity.

[DrummerBoy]

From what I understand, his brother had the wheel chair the whole time, and followed him through the police lines shorty after he has carried through.

 

He then rejoined the crowd, and did exactly the same thing a 2nd time.

 

To quote Forrest Gump's mother 'stupid is as stupid does'!!

[CapEnd]

Just because he's in a wheel chair it doesn't mean he can't be a nuisance as much as the next person. That's like saying "the police shouldn't have dragged that man away" when we all know he wasn't gonna walk away on his own.

 

Wheel him then...

[sted]

Wheel him then...

 

and risk him / the officer(s) getting fingers caught and damaged in the wheels and so on.

[frosty]

Where was his brother? If you watch the whole interview he cannot move himself his brother took him there. So where was his brother to allow him to get into that situation? If a member of my family was in a wheelchair I would be fiercly protective and not allow that to happen...surely?

[Pyroman]

see this thread http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/67616-disabled-protester-interview.html

[nicholab]

Well it equal opportunities in action he has the same rights as an able bodied person to get moved by the riot police.