The man who many believed was killed by a heart attack during the anti-G20 protests in London a few weeks ago turned out to be treated aggressively by the police. The Guardian has released a video where a London Metropolitan Police officer appears to have pushed - with a stick - the street-newspaper-seller on the back while he was not facing the police but walking calmly away from it.
According to the Guardian, Ian Tomlinson, who was happily married and had a son was discovered to not have been drunk when the attack occurred and although his death was diagnosed by official coroners to have died from a heart attack, both coroners and doctors (interviewed by the BBC News Channel) have speculated that Mr. Tomlinson's heart attack might have been caused by the push he received from the police officer shown on the video above.
The BBC News Channel reported that Mr. Tomlinson's death might have caused the protesters to increase their aggressive behavior. The BBC News Channel also reported how Mr. Tomlinson fell over minutes after he was attacked by the police. A G20 protester left a comment on News In-Depth Blog saying: "I was there and the police were swinging at anyone who came near regardless of gender, age or threat."
Although it is not possible to see Mr. Tomlinson's head hitting the ground when he is pushed by the police officer, it is very clear that such an aggressive push would have caused harm to a 47-year-old man like Mr. Tomlinson. To my point of view, that must have been the action that caused Mr. Tomlinson's death.
However, due to the fact that the video scooped by the Guardian shows one police officer pushing Mr. Tomlinson, it is unfair to blame the whole London Metropolitan Police for the action. I do believe though, that justice must be applied on the police officer guilty for this crime.
Guardian article used to write this story:
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