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Police Brutalise Students At Peaceful Protest
Other | Thursday 4th December 2014 | Matt
Appalling footage has emerged of police officers brutalising a group of around 25 peaceful student protestors at the University of Warwick yesterday. A university spokesman said police were called to the scene after a member of university staff said they had been assaulted. Within minutes of arriving, the authorities set about manhandling and pepper-spraying the group of young people legally exercising their right to peacefully demonstrate. Eyewitness Helena Dunnett-Orridge told the Guardian: "There had been a demo for free education, then people went into Senate House, sat in reception and had a discussion about the protest. Police came in and we all linked arms. They started pushing and attacking people, completely unprovoked. We couldn't say anything because we were being pushed.
They pushed people to the ground and grabbed a girl by the throat using her scarf. They also used CS spray in my friend's face and had Tasers. They started physically pushing and carrying people out. They dragged me out with them."
Three people were arrested following the crackdown, one on suspicion of assault and two on suspicion of obstruction. However, all have been released on bail. A statement from the Warwick Free Education website says that protestors were "punched, pushed on to the floor, dragged, grabbed by the throat and rammed into a wall, and kneed in the face". An investigation into the incident by the police is expected to be carried out soon, but in the meantime there has been speculation that students may be able to sue the police department for its excessive use of force, and The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) have begun collecting testimony and building their case ready to meet the police in court.
The tendency of the police force nationwide to resort to violence and thuggery in the face of lawful, peaceful political dissent is becoming a worrying trend, one that demonstrations such as these have unfortunately highlighted. If you are equally appalled by this display of deliberate, vicious misconduct you can head over to Publicuniversity.org where a petition has been set up by students and faculty of Warwick University to pressure the university into confirming its support for students' right to protest. From the letter: "We call on the university to publically affirm its commitment to democratic values and the right of students to protest peacefully against policies and practices with which there is disagreement. The university is our common space and we protest in the strongest possible terms against the violations that were allowed to take place here today."
By Matt Stefanyszyn
