Protesters accuse police of trapping them like 'animals' without food and water
2 April 2009
G20 protesters have accused police of trapping them like “animals” without food and water for up to 10 hours during violent confrontations.
Marina Pepper, a spokesman for protest co-ordinators G20 Meltdown, demanded a full independent inquiry into the death of a male protester who died of a suspected heart attack.
Returning to the scene of a rampage outside the Bank of England yesterday, Pepper said: “The police were angry. They treated it like a personal vendetta. It was terrifying, I have never been so scared in my life.
“They trapped us in a cordon without toilet facilities and without water.
“If we had been animals they would have called the RSPCA.”
Pepper called on witnesses who saw the man die to come forward.
Another protester, who refused to give her name, said she was with the dead man shortly before he died.
She said they were being chased by police dogs when the man in his 30s tripped and hit his head on the pavement at about 7.30pm.
She said: “Police dogs chased us all over London. We were running for about half-an-hour before the guy fell.
“We saw paramedics try to treat him. They said he was ok and he tried to get up but fell over again.”
A group of protesters gathered on the steps of the Bank of England to mourn their fellow demonstrator.
They brandished signs reading “police murder” and “a police kettle [referring to the police cordon] is not natural causes”.
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