Police state Britain: Pensioner mobbed by police and reporter threatened with arrest as a terrorist

http://youtu.be/Z8nsBdE75ac

The gentleman being forced to the ground by no less than five British Transport police in the video above is a 65-year-old pensioner named Tony Nuttall, who had been attending a peaceful protest against cuts to travel passes when the incident took place.

At the same protest, against cuts to free travel provision for pensioners and disabled people, Sheffield Star reporter Alex Evans was warned to stop filming the events and erase all his footage – including potentially important video evidence of the violence, because he did not have permission to film in the station as it is private property.

When he resisted the request, he was told he could be arrested under anti-terrorism laws.

James Mitchinson, editor of the Star, told The Guardian: “To cite anti-terror laws is clearly nonsense.

“But this case illustrates just how difficult it can be to report the news, on the spot when, increasingly, authorities are seeking to ‘manage’ it.

“This wasn’t a PR stunt; it was an extraordinary event that couldn’t have been predicted and it was very much in the public interest that people were made aware of what was going on.

George Arthur, aged 64, and Tony Nuttall, 65, have been charged with failure to pay and obstructing police.

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18 Comments

  1. Alan Dransfield June 25, 2014 at 2:31 pm - Reply

    Paul

    Par the course

  2. amnesiaclinic June 25, 2014 at 3:07 pm - Reply

    Yup. More like amerika every day.

    Shocking and totally unnecessary. If you know any police or pco’s talk to them about this unfolding nightmare. I like David Icke’s saying, “What were you doing when the orwellian police state was rolled into existence” when your grand children ask how could this happen?

  3. Nick June 25, 2014 at 3:16 pm - Reply

    looks like a police state

  4. martin June 25, 2014 at 4:55 pm - Reply

    As an ex-Section Officer in the Special Constabulary of the West Midlands Police based in Birmingham, I am appalled at this disgraceful action by the Police, whatever this man is supposed to have done it does not merit this kind of brutal action and behaviour from the very people that are here to protect us, barbaric heavy handed aggressive behaviour and I am ashamed to say that I was once part of the Police.

  5. thelovelywibblywobblyoldlady June 25, 2014 at 6:54 pm - Reply

    I read this story on the train on the way back from York today. I was sat next to an Elderly American chap (EAC) and pointed this out to him. We were both appalled by it and the EAC said “y’know the trouble is UK police call themselves a police FORCE, when in reality they are a police SERVICE”

    • Mike Sivier June 25, 2014 at 7:08 pm - Reply

      If you’ve ever since the Simon Pegg comedy Hot Fuzz, you’ll know that current regulations stipulate use of the word “service” instead of “force”!

  6. lawrencesroberts June 25, 2014 at 8:03 pm - Reply

    Glad to see that the pensioners still have The Dunkirk Spirit.

  7. jaypot2012 June 25, 2014 at 8:19 pm - Reply

    I have no words! I’m sharing this far and wide…

  8. jaypot2012 June 25, 2014 at 8:19 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on Jay's Journal and commented:
    Police abuse, please share everywhere…

  9. […] Police state Britain: Pensioner mobbed by police and reporter threatened with arrest as a terrorist. […]

  10. […] The gentleman being forced to the ground by no less than five British Transport police in the video above is …Continue reading →  […]

  11. Thomas M June 26, 2014 at 5:51 am - Reply

    And yet they didn’t do that when faced with the real danger of rampaging rioters who might actually have deserved it. Like bullies everywhere, the bad apples in the police force go after the weak. Note; I’m not anti police; most police I met were perfectly friendly or at worst were just doing their jobs, but bad police make people hate the police in general.

  12. prayerwarriorpsychicnot June 26, 2014 at 6:02 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on Citizens, not serfs.

  13. prayerwarriorpsychicnot June 26, 2014 at 6:03 am - Reply

    Disgusting, but business as usual.

  14. John Baker June 27, 2014 at 6:28 pm - Reply

    My guess is that Transport Police are not trusted to respond and were not given authority to use their own discretion. From the look on the TPs faces, it looked like they were intent on listening to orders from back room generals (probably watching events on tv from a safe distance), relayed over earphones. Given this it is not surprising they (TPs) lost their grip on the situation. I felt in part sorry for them being treated like robots.

    • Mike Sivier June 27, 2014 at 6:57 pm - Reply

      I don’t!

      I feel sorry for the elderly gentleman being manhandled like a piece of baggage.

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