I remember this case, of Gemma Atkinson just filming her boyfriend being questioned by police who then got targeted as a ‘terrorist’ for filming her employees (police are the same as the public, as much as they pretend to be some sub-military force, they are actually paid out of our taxes, thus we are their employers, employing them to keep the common public consent of law – ie. supposedly our law) at work.
After the IPCC being useless, and a few semantic games over wording that were ignored (love the idea the police can break the law if they’re ignorant about it!) and having to settle because otherwise you’ll get penalised for taking it further (gotta love UK justice – not) she then used the compensation to make this film. Which given the fact all other avenues were woefully inadequate seems as good as any way to go about it. Thing is she’s not alone, and the whole ‘I’m A Photographer Not a Terrorist’ campaign is still there because police still hate being monitored. Unless it’s by one of their own FIT teams, or CCTV that is, because that can easily disappear.
But given the fact they’ve had to admit police corruption with the Levenson enquiry, the whole Plebgate affair, lying and insulting the families of the Hillsborough disaster (and refusal to be involved with the new inquest so they don’t ‘incriminate themselves’, De Menenez and Blair Peach for starters, it’s amazing they still resist being filmed or photographed. You’d think they’d have something to hide – well given what (didn’t) happen to Simon Harwood over Ian Tomlinson they do, because they know they beat people up and mistreat people all the time – and don’t even know the law. So they don’t want proof of this – all the more reason for the public – their employers – to do so.
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