After watching the footage several times the only clear violent events that take place involve the blonde bloke wearing the hard hat.
Toward the beginning of the video one of the cops very clearly uses the handle end of a sledgehammer to hit him in the face. He then walks off, clearly stunned by the assault while the police tackle one of the other protesters to the ground. Then, after recovering from the attack the blonde guy returns and swings the sledgehammer at one of the cops on the ground.
My take on this is that the cop should be suspended immediately and sacked for using excessive force, but the bloke he hit should be charged with attempted murder, or at least aggravated assault. You can’t swing a sledgehammer like that at anyone, whether it be a cop or not, for any reason and expect to walk free, furthermore the cop was clearly lying on his back and pretty much defenceless at the time.
That being said, do I agree with the protesters actions and intentions otherwise? Fuck yes. Fuck Elbit, fuck Israel, fuck the complicit UK government and fuck the police.
Edit: Actually the cop hits two of them with the sledgehammer handle. The guy with the Keffiyeh round his waist THEN the guy in the hard hat. Clearly a cunt, but that still doesn’t excuse swinging a sledgehammer at him while he’s on his back.
After watching the footage several times the only clear violent events that take place involve the blonde bloke wearing the hard hat.
Toward the beginning of the video one of the cops very clearly uses the handle end of a sledgehammer to hit him in the face. He then walks off, clearly stunned by the assault while the police tackle one of the other protesters to the ground. Then, after recovering from the attack the blonde guy returns and swings the sledgehammer at one of the cops on the ground.
My take on this is that the cop should be suspended immediately and sacked for using excessive force, but the bloke he hit should be charged with attempted murder, or at least aggravated assault. You can’t swing a sledgehammer like that at anyone, whether it be a cop or not, for any reason and expect to walk free, furthermore the cop was clearly lying on his back and pretty much defenceless at the time.
That being said, do I agree with the protesters actions and intentions otherwise? Fuck yes. Fuck Elbit, fuck Israel, fuck the complicit UK government and fuck the police.
Edit: Actually the cop hits two of them with the sledgehammer handle. The guy with the Keffiyeh round his waist THEN the guy in the hard hat. Clearly a cunt, but that still doesn’t excuse swinging a sledgehammer at him while he’s on his back.