The Face of Mark Duggan

This has been doing the rounds on the internet but bears repeating. If one picture can be said to have shown the world the face of Mark Duggan, this image would probably be it:

The media used the above image heavily when talking about Mark’s murder. Often it headed reports parroting police lies about Mark opening fire. Even in the best reports it was implied that he was a hardened gangster who got his comeuppance; after all a picture says a thousand words. This image wasn’t just used in the right-wing press like the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, but also across the  liberal and left-wing papers. However, lets take a look at the full picture:

This is a picture of someone going to lay a memorial on his daughters grave.

We all have pictures of us taken on bad days, scowling, angry, upset, hurt or even just frowning. When we see that photo of Mark Duggan let’s remember how the media colludes with the police to turn us against one another, and how they have no respect for a grieving father or a grieving family.

Police Spies Out of Lives

Via Police Spies Out of Lives:

In December 2011 eight women launched legal action against the Metropolitan Police for the harm caused by undercover officers deceiving them into long term intimate relationships.

The women assert that the actions of the Metropolitan police officers breached their human rights, subjecting them to inhumane and degrading treatment, and disrespecting their private and family life and their right to form relationships without unjustified interference by the state.

The women are also bringing claims for deceit, assault, misfeasance in public office and negligence. They seek to highlight and prevent the continuation of psychological, emotional and sexual abuse of campaigners and others by undercover police officers.

Many people are going to great effort and/or expense to bring this complex legal action. Navigating the legal system to bring a highly secretive part of the state to account is practically and emotionally difficult.

The women bringing the case are dealing with the emotionally challenging work of preparing the case and rebuilding their lives. As the support group we feel strongly that they should not be the ones bearing the financial costs on top of all of this.

Police Spies Out Of Lives is run by volunteers to support the women involved with this case. It is not a legal entity, but a loose affiliation of concerned individuals, friends, and family members of the eight women who are bringing the case.

We are currently fundraising for three things:

• Legal costs to put the case together. (Please note: this is to cover ‘disbursements’, which are costs other than lawyers, such as expert reports and travel costs).

• Counselling support for the claimants, to deal with the emotional burden of discovering the truth, coming to terms with what has happened and preparing a case which relates to their private lives.

• Necessary administration of explaining the case to the wider public (including this website) and fielding enquiries.

Click the image below for more info on how to make a donation:

MURDERING POLICE BASTARDS!

The Metrepolitan police yet again have blood on their hands.

At around 7:30 this evening a man died following baton charges and other police actions at the anti-G20 protests in the city of London.

The man is reportedto have been injured by the police and then collapsed and stopped breathing.

Further reports can be found on indymedia

We hope the streets of London explode with anger!

Jean Charles de Menezes: UN-lawfully killed

Coroner Sir Michael Wright: thinks you can't make your own mind up

Despite the coroner’s blatant attempt to manipulate the results of the Inquest into the Killing of Jean Charles de Menezes, by denying the jury the option of an “unlawful killing” verdict, the jury’s verdict is clear.

By unanimously returning the most critical verdict available to them and rejecting police testimony on every crucial point, we know that:

• Firearms officers never shouted “Armed Police” as they burst into the tube carriage
• Officers colluded in their testimony
• Special Branch officers altered evidence
• Nobody identified Jean Charles as “Hussein Osman”

The coroner also gagged the media from reporting the complete breakdown in trust between the family and his court. At one point he even barred them from being in court so he could hear parts of the evidence in secret! Sir Michael Wright didn’t get his knighthood by allowing criticism of the gang of out-of-control, incompetent, macho, racists that are the Metropolitan Police.

Without the jury system (with the crucial “of your peers” thing), this would have been swept under the carpet within a week. No wonder there are so many attempts to get rid of it.

This is not over yet. There are clearly guilty people at the Metropolitan Police. Police corruption and impunity is a universal phenomenon. It’s not a matter of “a few bad apples”: the system’s barrel is rotten. Concentrating power in the hands of individuals and institutions makes this kind of abuse inevitable. Greece shows what happens when you push ordinary people too far.

Sometimes we push back.