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The violent protestors share as much responsibilty for this man's death as the police! No one reports or tallies the number of deaths and injuries civil disobedience causes.

- H.Best, St.Petersburg, Florida, USA

There have been too many reliable witnesses reporting unprovoked police violence for this to be just co-incidence, or just one "bad apple". The evidence seems to indicate that the very violent intimidation of people who were lawfully protesting was a deliberate police tactic. If so Yellow appears to be an appropriate colour for the police to wear. It seems Banking Officials and Politicians combined are allowed to bring the country's economy to its knees,forcing ordinary people out of work or losing savings and pensions, while lavishly lining their own pockets and feathering their own nests. When ordinary people protest they are brutally beaten and unlawfully detained. Don't give me the old "ballot box" and democracy line as being the way to protest. We haven't got democracy, we have a 19th century electoral system designed to cater for a minority - it still does just that. Only a few marginal Constituencies decide the outcome of elections, and Governments, whether Tory or Labour get no more than 30 per cent of the vote - they call this corruption of the numbers, a "majority." Its time we took to the streets more often in overwhelming numbers and showed these corrupt politicians and bankers that we just won't stand by while they help themselves to our money.

- Neil45, Gloucestershire, England.

The police have behaved shamefully both in the tactics that they used, and in the way that they tried to manage the news afterwards.

- Kto, London

Steve from London, your view is deeply offensive to those who witnessed such brutal police violence. I remember seeing some groups of younger people pushing and shoving and trying to cause trouble but they were so deeply in the minority that their little tantrums came to very little.

I am 67 years old, come from Avebury and attended with my grandchildren as we believe that the governments and businesses of the world are going to suck up all the resources of the world for the simple reason that unregulated laissez faire capitalism demands infinite profit at all costs. It will be a bit embarrassing for all of you who stand against us now as in the future, when your children asked what you did to avert the disasters that we are heading for, you will have to say that you did nothing, hid your head in the sand, watched TV and believed all the lies.

I have never seen anything like the police brutality dolled out on Wednesday 1st April. To me, it looked like it was pre-planned, as if they were ordered, around seven onwards, to let rip on all these people and frighten them away from ever daring to protest again as well as frighten all who watched on the TV from ever protesting as well. I think they chose that time as that was when the main media had left to file their reports for the day.

I am also deeply suspicious that every building was boarded up except for that bank which was right in the middle of where the protests were to be and there were no police guarding it.

- Mary, Wiltshire

Paul London, rather than comment about what ifs let me say, I was here all last week. I work by Bank and walked through the entire gathering at Royal Exchange through all the Police cordons without once being asked for identity. Only once the face covered protesters resorted to violence did it get harder to move around. Their tactics were clear to me, get four rows back from the front protesters at the Police line, push hard against them forcing them into the Police. The Police push back, some claim injury at the front line. The rioters then throw bottles etc at the Police over the heads of the protesters they are pushing in front of them. The Police move forward to get through to the mindless but have to push through the peaceful protesters. By the time they get through the face covered protesters have dispersed. The peaceful protesters claim Police hard handiness, but they do not see whats going on behind them. I watched them do this from above three times at different sectors of the cordon. Paul, get real.

- Steve, London

Exactly what is wrong with protest anyway?

- Matt, london

Why do people keep referring back to an irrelevancy that was de Menzes . . .
His death was simply unfortunate, but he would be still alive if he had returned to his country of origin when his visa expired two years previously.

- Eoin Mcgreeghan, Derry, NI

No doubt the thug concerned will have to be pensioned off the force with "post traumatic stress disorder"! Until police officers are held to account for what they do they are no better than the thugs they are supposed to protect us from. What staggers me are the comments here from people who think this is something new. I remember my wife telling me of a starsky and hutch scene in Dumbarton where a teetotaler driver was pulled over by a police car screeching to a halt diagonally in front of him. He was then verbally abused by a moron of a sergeant for driving at the speed limt and so was obviously drunk. The driver protested and things got very nasty until the sergeant bent down to see who the driver's passenger and it was David McNee "The Hammer of the MET" then at the height of his fame who then confirmed to the officer his friend was indeed teetotal and asked for the sergeant's badge number. The sergeant was demoted to constable the following Monday morning. What a pity none of the MET officers who must have seen this happen to this poor man are prepared to do what David McNee did and stand up for a member of the public. Maybe that is why I respect him and not them.

- John, Stonehaven, UK

For people who were not there, they should shut up. I was trapped in the same crown Tomlinson was in and I only got away after pushing my way through the police line when one of the law enforcement geniuses turned his head. I believe I escaped maybe 10 minutes before Tomlinson died. I want to make four points: 1) I had nothing to do with the protest and even sympathised with the police until I got trapped just walking by the protest; 2) the police formed their rigid line too far back from the crowd and thus swept in many bystanders and even passersby -- this did not seem to trouble them in the slightest; 3) MANY of us REPEATEDLY asked police to let us get through the line -- a line that did not exist before they formed it and trapped us behind it -- we were repeatedly, uniformly refused this request; and 4) most disturbingly, the police I saw (I was standing in the line of people directly abutting the police shields) were LOVING the situation. They had exactly what they wanted: they had taken some shots from actual protesters earlier in the day and now came the time to EVEN THE SCORE. They were violent, they were premeditated, they were organised, and they were ruthless. All of you who have no idea what you're talking about should be glad most of the protesters were not the utter swine the police were that day or the damage would have been far greater. This incident should result in terminations and convictions. But will it?

- Ron, London

Nigel and Mr Greggson, either you are coppers, in which case fair enough, or you’re simply heartless and mean-minded, more likely. I work in Moorgate and took last Weds off as I could foresee something like this happening to anyone. We were advised by our employers to dress scruffily, but I and many colleagues felt that there could be a greater risk from baton-happy cops than from protesters. It seemed some employers in the area were seriously expecting their employees to be able to show a business card at a police cordon and be let through, like they were going to be Dixon of Dock Green or something! I came in to work on Thursday, and witnessed the scary atmosphere during those unscheduled skirmishes, too. I managed to avoid having to pass through any cordons then, and most of my colleagues on the Weds had avoided this too by taking very circuitous routes home. But the consensus in my Moorgate office is: Heaven help you if you had tried to identify yourself to a cop and be let through a cordon. At best, it wouldn’t have happened. At worst, any of us, it seems, could have been in a similar situation to the unfortunate Mr Tomlinson, of finding yourself in the middle of a ‘kettled’ crowd. The police, ostensibly, were protecting us. Well I didn’t feel very protected. Nor could I see how they were supposed to tell the difference between protesters and workers, when the latter had been asked to dress down (on police advice).

- Paul, London UK

I was working in London on Wednesday evening and was very wary of getting caught up in something like this, innocent people have been beaten severely by the Police before. I don't trust the Police one bit, they are a law unto themselves - we really do live in a Police state. As civil unrest increases this will become apparent to everyone, then maybe the people en masse will finally do something about them and the Government.

- Mark Burton, St Ives. Cambs

Don't you just love it when somebody like Nick Holland of Glasgow starts their comment with "Simple" - because you can then bank on it that the matter isn't going to be simple, and this one certainly won't be. It's likely to drag on and on... and on...

- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx

Who can believe anything the Police say anymore. If they are responsible for this mans death, nothing will change, remember de Menezes.

- Mr S.Port, London

Bob, Cheam, if you really do know two serving police sergeants who gave you your 'information' (or drivel) they must be imaginary ones who serve with the imaginary riot police force that exists only in the minds of ardent anarchists, lefties and your brain.
There is no separate riot police force in the UK. Get a grip man!

- Ranter, Maidstone, UK

The first thing that has to happen, is a post-mortem and coroner's court hearing to discover what this unfortunate man died of. If it was a heart attack (as seems likely from what was reported), then whether he was hit by a policeman is not relevant to his death.

The people who came to the demonstrations in order to have a riot are not obviously trustworthy witnesses, especially when not on oath. Those who throw bricks at policemen are hardly likely to think that throwing mud is off-limits. And whatever the exact events, they must share the blame for starting the riot in the first place.

- Nigel, London

Simple investigate it and if the 'witness statement' is found to be unproven then let the Metropolitan Police Officers Federation sue the individual for some serious damages.

- Nick Holland, glasgow

Ranter, thanks for the update, I'll pass the information back to the 2 sergeants who told me that, I’m sure they’ll be much more at ease in their profession now you’ve put them straight.

- Bob, Cheam

They shoot innocent members of the public under the claimed of 'attempting to protect them. Now they are beating members of the public with metal trunchons under the guise that they are trying to protect themselves.

- A Winsley, London

I am afraid that these witness statements sound very plausible to me. As someone who was in the Royal Exchange/Threadneedle Street at 7.15 I witnessesed two assaults by police with batons and two with dogs. The shocking thing was that these appeared to be unprovoked (they occurred just in front of me) - there were not even crowds in that particular place. I have no idea about the circumstances surrounding Mr Tomlinson's tragic death but I am afraid that the police, after 7pm, in that part of the demo, were very pumped up and had to be told to calm down by bystanders. In the hour I spent there I saw no more than one plastic bottle thrown. I have never attended a demo before and was horrified by the violence - which, from what I saw, came - at this stage of the proceedings at least - entirely from the police.

- Fen, Cambridge

I find
"Mr Tomlinson who was walking along a pedestrian street next to the Royal Exchange buildings between Threadneedle Street and Cornhill when he stumbled on protesters confronting riot police."
Very hard to believe, it was on every newspaper front page and tv station all day, how can you stumble upon a mass riot...
It's like stumbling accross the moonlandings and not realising you've just been rocketed into space.

- Michael Greggson, Wimbledon

Unfortunate, but that's life. The protesters are to blame for stirring up trouble in the first place. How about arresting the ring leaders of the organising group and charging them with manslaughter? Could be the way forward.

- Eoin Mcgreeghan, Derry, NI

Bob, Cheam, your comments are pure nonsense. Level 2 shield trained officers carry out normal everyday duties on local boroughs. They are trained to the same level as TSG officers in this respect. Most police officers are scared of people like you who spout such tosh. Unfortunately this fatality will milked for all it is worth by activists and solicitors and will ultimately be shown for what it is. Many police officers working under very dificult conditions on that day will spend weeks if not months under suspicion and stress before they can carry on with their lives. Eventually film taken will show police officers attempting to provide first aid being attacked the mob, no doubt this may have contributed to the death of this unfortuante man.

- Ranter, Maidstone, UK

Considering for every 3 protesters present there was 1 member of the media, particualarly photographers, I am staggered this incident was not captured on camera. Interesting that a photographer seemingly saw the event.

- Steve, London

Unfortunately the riot police are generally comprised of police officers not fit for normal duty and are generally kept away from the general public until such time as they are required for violent offensives. Most police officers are scared of them, let alone the public.

- Bob, Cheam

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