At the same time as the heavy handed policing at the G20 protests is being questioned, Amnesty have released a report into the brutality of policing in France.
Heavy policing reflects the climate of fear we find ourselves in. The police, as with any bureaucracy, are liable to use the full force of their power if laws aren’t drafted properly, and when fears of anarchy are perceived. Particularly, when it comes to emotive issues like terrorism, riots and greedy bankers.
And the guise of political activism is the best friend of the wannabe rebel, but still, was the police reaction disproportionate? I didn’t manage to get to the protests (work, work, work, work, work) but friends who did said the riot police, at a protest, seemed unduly heavy handed. My friends didn’t get any photos like these .
All photographs courtesy: Getty Images
