More videos show police violence at G20 protests

The Metropolitan Police have come in for fresh criticism of their policing of this month's G20 protests after a video was released to the Sunday Times showing an officer punching a climate activist in the face and another protestor being struck in the back of the head by a riot shield during the Climate Camp demonstration in Bishopsgate on April 1.

A further video released today on the Times website shows a police raid the following day, in which officers in riot gear storm a squat in east London and appear to point a 50,000-volt Taser at people lying peacefully on the floor of the premises. Police guidelines suggest that Tasers are only justified when officers meet violent resistance.

In the video of the raid on a G20 Convergence space in Earl Street, where activists gathered during the protests, police officers scream at the protestors to stay on the floor, while an officer walks around the room holding the Taser in a two-handed grip, while another officer stands with his baton raised.

During the raid, activists can be heard telling each other to keep calm and asking the police why they have raided them so forcefully. It is also claimed that during another police raid on the same day, a Taser was actually fired at an activist but missed its target.

The Times also reports that the police officer who was seen last week attacking Nicky Fisher at a vigil for Ian Tomlinson on April 2 was already facing allegations of an assault on another female protestor the day before. In a complaint filed on her behalf, Katie Surridge is alleged to have been "picked up and thrown onto the floor".

The two assaults reported by the Sunday Times appear in a video provided by the Climate Camp organisers, who also released a report over the weekend about the policing of the demonstration. In it they claim the policing of the protests was unaccountable, there was little legal recourse for protestors on the day to challenge police behaviour, and that activists were essentially criminalised in the eyes of the police.

The report also concludes that "police spin is overstepping the mark", and highlights how the Metropolitan Police talked up the potential for violence ahead of the G20 protests, as Matthew Carr noted on The First Post. Climate Camp will be presenting the video and report to MPs this week.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Sir Ken Jones, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, BBC Radio4 Today Programme: "I can't find any other country that doesn't use water cannon, CS gas, rubber bullets. Our approach is proportionate and, in fact, has delivered on many other occasions."

David Gilbertson, the Guardian: "Integrity is non-negotiable. Police officers are rightly held to a higher standard of behaviour than the general public. All officers need to be aware that if their integrity is flawed, they cannot remain in the service. The standards are binding; it would be disingenuous for any officer to claim not to know what is expected."