. . . hardly the well loved family man who got innocently caught up in the G20 protest on his way home from work as has been previously reported.
Not sure what news sources you saw but all the ones I saw at the time reported him as a homeless alcoholic living in a hostel.
Also what I saw said he didn't work as a news vendor but simply spent his days there with the news vendor chappy helping out ... I took that as simply something he did to pass the time.
I also seem to recall something about him having spent around 40 mins trying to get to the hostel before his run in.
Personally I feel the full invesitgation needs to run it's course.
As far as the police tactics themselves go I'm very wary of this "kettling".
I can see where as an "operational control tactic" it can seem very effective.
But ... what happens to someone living/working etc or who genuinely happens to be passing through such an area.
Just how calm might I be after effectively being "detained" against my will.
Now you might say well I should know about something like this about to kick off and stay clear .... problem is I'm a bit thick with stuff like this and tend to just switch off and ignore all the run up publicity to such events.
I could very easily see myself walking into such a situation without realising it :bang:
Now if I'm an alcho (no-one's yet said he was actually drunk I believe?) maybe not firing on all cylinders and desperate to get back to the safe haven of my hostel - perhaps thinking I'd lose my place and be on the streets if I didn't ... maybe I wouldn't be calm and "normal".
:dunno:
It's a tricky one either way.
The one biggy concern I have at this stage is the concealing of PC's ID. Sorry but if the lawkeepers don't think they'll be safe from the bad guys then we've already lost the plot.
So either it's a genuine fear - which means society has already lost the plot.
Or ...
It's the same as the "professional" protestor maybe getting a "slap" saying "I wasn't doing now't guv"
i.e. a convenient excuse to be used when ignoring the law/rules and perhaps indicative of the "intention" to be in a position where privacy of identity might be desirable??
This could run and run and run and run ..........
:-0)