The later story that the CO19 Police Officer in Tottenham Hale was shot at first but was saved by his radio sounds very much like a Wild West story where a Sheriff kills a Native Indian and then claims that it was in self-defence because he was shot at first but ‘saved’ by his star badge.
Mark Duggan, shot twice by elite CO19 officers in Tottenham, London
Going to work by car on Friday 5th August 2011 around 7 am, I was stopped by the Police at Blackhorse Road Station junction. The Officer asked which way I was going and advised that I take the A406 North Circular Road instead as all roads through Tottenham Hale have been closed. I read the same morning that it was due to a Police Officer being ‘shot’ in Ferry Lane, Tottenham Hale the previous day at 6.15pm. Returning from work the same day, the other end of Tottenham Hale was still blocked and all traffic deviated. It did look very strange that the Police had blocked this road on both sides for over 24 hours and still longer as the night wore on. Given the efficiency and speed of the London Metropolitan Police, within a few hours, they should have gathered all evidence and restore life to normal. But it was not to be. Why?
In truth, the elite CO19 Officers working closely with the Trident Operational Command Unit (OCU) is the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on gun related murders within the black community, had shot dead a Black man, a certain Mark Duggan, 29-year-old father-of-four, allegedly in self-defence because he had shot at an Officer first. The Officer was admitted to hospital but released shortly afterwards because his injury was not serious. The story got better. The Officer was allegedly miraculously saved by his radio which had taken the brunt of the Black man’s bullet. The story got better still. Mark Duggan was known to the Police who were already keeping an eye on him. He was shot dead not by the Officer who he allegedly shot at, but by other Officers on the scene. Mark Duggan was killed, some say « murdered », on the spot by two bullets either from the same gun or from two separate Officers.
Police blocked residents and potential witnesses
Mark Duggan’s family and those who knew him agreed that he may have been involved in things, but that he was never an aggressive person and never hurt anyone. They could not understand how he could have been killed by Police in such a way. Any case of Police shooting is automatically referred to the Police so-called Independent Complaints Commission (ICC) even though no one makes any complaint. So far, there is no independent corroboration of anything as all information comes from the Police. The area was sealed off by Police and residents and others suspect that the Police themselves may well tamper with the evidence and interfere with witnesses to cover-up any wrongdoing. The residents were not allowed home after the killing. Even « Shoppers who were in a supermarket in Ferry Lane were not allowed to leave as police taped off the entrance to the store », Haringey Independent, 5th August 2011.
The same techniques were used when, on 22nd July 2005 at Stockwell tube station, Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by a CO19 Officer on the tube with 8 bullets in his head and chest. Like Mark Duggan, he too was being watched by the Police. CCTV footages were confiscated and later alleged not to have been working. The Police even alleged that he was wearing a bulky jacket under which he was hiding a suicide vest when, in truth, he was wearing no jacket at all, but they still killed him ruthlessly anyway and the ICC exonerated the unnamed Officer in question. Similar techniques were used during 9/11 when all witnesses were intimidated and CCTV footages confiscated around the Pentagon because the building was hit by a guided missile and not by a passenger plane as alleged. Even the eye witnesses who said that the planes which sliced through the Twin Towers were unmarked military planes without windows were suppressed.
The later story that the CO19 Police Officer in Tottenham Hale was shot at first but was saved by his radio sounds very much like a Wild West story where a Sheriff kills a Native Indian and then claims that it was in self-defence because he was shot at first but ‘saved’ by his star badge. Even though Mark Duggan may have been carrying a gun (unlawfully) for his safety because he was apparently the target of a gang after his friend Kelvin Easton was killed by stabbing in Mile End on 27th March 2011, so far, there is no independent corroboration that on 4th August 2011 he shot at any Police Officer. People who know him reject this allegation and his killing sparked riots in Tottenham, spilling into Wood Green area, some reports say. Police cars, a bus and shops were attacked and burnt and many Police Officers injured. Black local MP David Lammy appealed for calm, arguing that to understand such violent killing, « we must have calm » as resorting to unlawful acts can only complicate matters. But, as is usually the case, the ICC is expected to exonerate the Police.
Case of Ian Tomlinson
People would remember the protests at the G20 summit in London in 2009. Ian Tomlinson was not even a protester; he was walking home when he was savagely pushed to the ground by a brutal Police Officer, from which he died. The mainstream media spun the story away from what really happened as they repeated Police allegations as fact without corroboration. The Daily Telegraph said : « As officers went to the man’s aid, they were pelted with bottles and other missiles, forcing them to retreat. » Even though there were various independent photograghs and footages, the ICC found nothing wrong and exonerated the Officer in question. But, although an inquiry found that Ian Tomlinson was unlawfully killed, it went out of its way to say that the Police « did not try to cover up Ian Tomlinson G20 death ».
In the case of the killing of Mark Duggan, not by the CO19 Officer who was allegedly shot at first and miraculously saved by his radio, but by other CO19 Officers present at the scene, there are no such photographs and footages and no independent corroboration of the Police stories. But one thing seems certain - the other Officers must have had their guns already pointed at Mark Duggan well before the alleged attempt to arrest him on 4th August 2011.
M Rafic Soormally
London
7th August 2011
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