Minister Mark Field manhandling a female protestor...

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Loftus

You just deemed almost every protest threatening. Are we not allowed to protest anymore?

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Not in a private event, no. This was about intrusion not protest.

[Loftus]

Originally Posted by Claudette

Not in a private event, no. This was about intrusion not protest.

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Absolute rubbish. It was a protest like thousands that have happened before.

[RickT]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

exactly

after the Jo Cox murder (possibly before) im sure all MP have had some sort of self defence/restraining training... he acted on instinct imo..

im guessing* the throat is a good option for restraining a potential threat?


* i have no idea but seems reasonable imo

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Throat grab is good, second option would of been a throat punch but was not needed in this situation as she compiled.

The key is to defuse the situation as quick as possible, this man did this in control.

Fast reaction wins over sitting on your hands

[Bugsy]

He wasnt being threatened, and there was no clear threat to others either.

You can use reasonable force if you feel threatened but grabbing a woman who is walking past you and not paying the blindest bit of attention to you would not be deemed to you being in a threatening situation.

She is carrying a phone and holding a handbag. It was not his place to decide on what action should be taken and his actions were not commensrate with the situation.

Had she been carrying a knife or been shouting threats then she would have been seen as an imminent threat and i would then agree that he would be within his rights to use reasonable force, and in those circumstances it would have been reasonable force.

You cant just physically manhandle people because you think they are going to do something, you need some sort of evidence of threat. Even the police have rules about this

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Loftus

Absolute rubbish. It was a protest like thousands that have happened before.

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It isn't rubbish at all. This was a private event, protests are held in public areas.

And something having happened thousands of times before, like all crimes have, doesn't mean it is ok.

[Lindaelaine]

Originally Posted by tspill

Sorry to go against the grain.
She shouldn't have been there. When you turn up uninvited and are deemed threatening, I think this was justified. The cynic might suggest this was her intention.
No sympathy what so ever.

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I don’t think you are going against the grain , the majority feel the same way as you do and rightly so , I am livid at the thought he could lose his job over this , it’s ludicrous .
What I would like to know is what is the actual issue here that people are complaining about ?
Is it that she is a woman, would these people feel the same way had it been a man ?

[Loftus]

Really, you've never seen a protest at a private event? Political rallies are constantly disrupted by protests as are conferences.

[RickT]

Originally Posted by Bugsy

He wasnt being threatened, and there was no clear threat to others either.

You can use reasonable force if you feel threatened but grabbing a woman who is walking past you and not paying the blindest bit of attention to you would not be deemed to you being in a threatening situation.

She is carrying a phone and holding a handbag. It was not his place to decide on what action should be taken and his actions were not commensrate with the situation.

Had she been carrying a knife or been shouting threats then she would have been seen as an imminent threat and i would then agree that he would be within his rights to use reasonable force, and in those circumstances it would have been reasonable force.

You cant just physically manhandle people because you think they are going to do something, you need some sort of evidence of threat. Even the police have rules about this

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And this is why this country is so soft, she was an unknown threat and dealt with.

She was an intruder and had no reason to be there.

He didn't kill her or substantially injury her either. He was controlled as he saw fit.

She could of been carrying a knife, firearm or anything in that bag and walking to a said target.

If you give people an inch, they take a mile.

Stop being soft.

[Megandllsmum]

Originally Posted by Bugsy

He wasnt being threatened, and there was no clear threat to others either.

You can use reasonable force if you feel threatened but grabbing a woman who is walking past you and not paying the blindest bit of attention to you would not be deemed to you being in a threatening situation.

She is carrying a phone and holding a handbag. It was not his place to decide on what action should be taken and his actions were not commensrate with the situation.

Had she been carrying a knife or been shouting threats then she would have been seen as an imminent threat and i would then agree that he would be within his rights to use reasonable force, and in those circumstances it would have been reasonable force.

You cant just physically manhandle people because you think they are going to do something, you need some sort of evidence of threat. Even the police have rules about this

See more...

What could've been in that handbag, looks big enough to me in clips I've seen to hold a handgun, a bottle of acid, a knife, a whole heap of things that could do harm, it could also have contained 20 cigs, a lipstick, chewing gum, we don't know, a lot of times we wouldn't bat an eyelid at a bag being held by someone but when someone comes with a group shouting and parading through somewhere uninvited it makes you think more it might contain stuff that's harmful. In a split second do you focus on a nice handbag and a phone in someone's hand or think it could be a weapon or something intent on doing harm, I know where my mindset would be in that instance, and that's down to the horrors we see on TV, online anf in newspapers daily.

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by Loftus

40 protesters entered the event, 39 were removed without the need for them to be grabbed by the throat. It's not the restraining, it's the method of restraining. Why was he the only one who thought that was necessary?
People are reacting to this as if he had bravely tackled a lone wolf terrorist rather than being one man over reacting to a situation.

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lets hope the police dont over react when the next potential terror attack happens eh...