Clearly the riot police aren't in fact there to put down rioters as quickly as possible in order to defend the surrounding innocent citizens
and are actually there to provide a series of set-piece battles featuring the exact equipment the rioters have. They should probably set up jousting lists.
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:29, 2 replies, latest was 12 years ago)

balsa woods sticks at dawn!

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:30, Reply)

*slaps with glove*

( sporters I’m sincerely gratitude to you, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:31, Reply)

*cries*

( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:31, Reply)

It did rather seem as though they were there to do battle rather than, y'know, maintain the peace.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:35, Reply)

Sorry Tangles, you're wrong.
www.b3ta.com/questions/offtopic/post1883925

The protestors instigated the whole thing. I know it's en vogue for hippies to hate the police and think of them as brutal commissars whose purpose is to destroy individual freedoms or some shit like that, but you are being daft.
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:37, Reply)

I don't hate the police.
There were no petrol bombs thrown.
There were many people who sustained baton injuries on the backs of their heads.

The story, as reported by ITN, does not reflect my eyewitness account.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:42, Reply)

Which is the view of one person, from one small area of the protest
and doesn't reflect the whole. No petrol bombs were thrown. Six were recovered. Why would you make petrol bombs if you weren't intending to throw them? Some of the protestors went there with the intent of starting a riot. The police reacted and you were caught in the middle. The police were not there "looking for a fight".
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:45, Reply)

Actually I think the police probably did like a rumble in those days
having cut there teeth in the 80's, but still the rioters didn't have to be there the police did
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:48, Reply)

My dad was a copper in the Eighties and was present for the Brixton riots.
They operated a zero tolerance policy. I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying they didn't turn up to these thigns looking for an excuse to break heads.
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:52, Reply)

Again, it wouldnt be beyond the old bill to grab any old bottle and claim it was a petrol bomb.

(Bonzodog29 is an unemployed sponge of the worst kind, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 13:53, Reply)

None of the people I saw were armed.
All of the police were.
Which ones came ready for a fight?
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:12, Reply)

You're being ridiculous.

( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:13, Reply)

Kind of.
But only in response to your slightly ridiculous statements.
The difference is that you are basing most of your opinions on this particular case on that news clip.
I am basing mine on my personal experience of the case, which differs from how it was reported.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:15, Reply)

Your personal experience is every bit as biased as that new report.
I am basing my opinion on what I saw from the video footage, not what comes out of the reporter's mouth, I am also taking into account my own knowledge of police procedure that I got from my father. No doubt also biased. The police were expecting a riot. They came equipped for dealilng with a riot. The protestors lived down to expectations and got dispersed.
( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:19, Reply)

I said that right at the start of this:
www.b3ta.com/questions/offtopic/post1883850

I also was trying to avoid a "He started it, Miss!" line of argument, as it doesn't really matter when people are getting hurt.
However, my assertion is that it was the police who created the situation, not the demonstrators.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:30, Reply)

Which is fine. But you're wrong.

( Kroney, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 14:57, Reply)

Quite possibly.
I was only seventeen at the time and that is how it seemed to me.

I have tried not to deal in black and white here - deliberately using words/phrases like 'seem' or 'from where I was standing'

I still have a healthy respect for a police force, but I saw a different side on that day.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Mon 4 Mar 2013, 15:03, Reply)