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National politics

Jody McIntyre is not telling the whole story

This video showing a man in a wheelchair being manhandled by police at last Thursday’s student riots has gone viral as they say. The man was interviewed on the BBC yesterday and apparently some people thought that the interviewer, Ben Brown, gave Jody McIntyre an unnecessarily hard time.

It seems to me that Ben Brown treated McIntyre like anyone else.

McIntyre is not being particularly honest though. Although he presents himself as a cerebral palsy victim in a wheelchair he does not mention that by his own account he walked up the 9 stories of stairs of the 30 Millbank building during the student riots of 10th November. His account, here, also makes it sound like he is quite happy to be at the sharp end of these demos; always at the front, dismantling barriers and walking himself to the top floor of 30 Millbank. The quotes below show give you some insight I think:

The sun was shining on the morning of November 10th, and our blood was boiling.

We passed Trafalger Square, and half way down Whitehall found ourselves approaching the main bulk of the demonstration, which had assembled there. It was an endless sea of people, but unfortunately, they had been corralled by police and NUS stewards into one lane of the dual carriageway. Me and Finlay immediately set to work, tearing down the metal barriers which separated the two lanes.

We were approaching the Treasury on our right; “That’s our first target,” I told my brother.

All of a sudden, the bicycle burst out of the crowd, rushing through the pair of armed police guarding the private road of the Treasury. A group of 200 followed, including me in my wheelchair, and Finlay pushing at full speed.

We continued down the sixty stone steps at the other end of the Treasury road without so much as a pause for breath. We were on the rampage.

As batons began to swing, me and Finlay stood our ground on the front line. I stood up on my wheelchair …

In front of us, a huge glass building towered; it was the Conservative Party’s Headquarters, and it was under attack. The crowd was so tightly packed that even with the wheelchair, it was a huge effort to force our way through. Around half way we gave up. The crowd was swaying. “They’re smashing the windows…”

Me and Finlay looked at each other. We knew that we had to make it to the front. Kareem started pushing the wheelchair again, and Finlay cleared a path in front of us.

Two rows from the front of the crowd, I saw a close friend, Jonte. He grabbed my arm. “This is so tight, we are going to break the police line any moment now. Me and Finlay went for one last push, and forced our way to the front.

It was an epic mission to the top. Nine floors; eighteen flights of stairs. Two friends carried my wheelchair, and I walked.

The police are entitled I think to start pushing and shoving when hostile and potentially violent protestors will not move out of their way. McIntyre is using his disability as a stick to beat the police with. He wants to be treated as an equal but apparently feels he is somehow inviolate because he is disabled. McIntyre seems to want to indulge in riskless thrill seeking. If he dishes it out, he should learn to take it.

44 replies on “Jody McIntyre is not telling the whole story”

That was then – this is now.

No matter what McIntyre had done previously, the behaviour of the police on this occasion, as shown in the video, was inexcusable. If they wanted him gone, they could have picked him up, chair and all, and carted him away.

Though if McIntyre is claiming DLA – no idea if he is or not – he’s screwed now.

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This is complete nonsense. The post you quote doesn’t in any way excuse or justify the police attacking McIntyre in the way that they did. Police way be “entitled . . . to start pushing and shoving when hostile and potentially violent protestors will not move out of their way,” but that’s a totally separate question; it clearly doesn’t apply to McIntyre, who, at the time, was well away from police lines.

You seem to be suggesting any of the protesters who occupied the roof of Milbank are fair game for indiscriminate police attacks at future demonstration, regardless of the risk they pose at the time. You say that “If he dishes it out, he should learn to take it”; do you really regard the Met Police as some kind of vengeful street gang?

Contrary to the shrieks of all the crypto-authoritarians, this whole thing has very little to do with McIntyre’s disability. The outrage arises firstly from the possibly unprovoked and certainly disproportionate action of the police towards McIntyre, and secondly from Ben Bradshaw’s suggestion that McIntyre’s ‘rolling towards’ them, or alternatively his political beliefs, justified the attack. In other words, Bradshaw suggested, as you have, that McIntyre simply had it coming.

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A large part of living with Cerebal Palsy is the little victories that you can achieve by walking distances which tire you out, I’m sure Jody is making a point in the above intervies, by stating that he climbed the nine flights of stairs at Millbank.

For you to suggest that because Jody is able, (as most people with Cerebal Palsy are) to walk a limited distance makes him fair game for police brutality, is absolutely disgusting.

You aren’t fit to shine Mr Mcintyre’s shoes.

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If he dishes it out he should learn to take it?
Is that how you really want to finish that post?
Is that the attitude you take on disabled people in Ealing?

And were the police pushing and shoving? I saw them tipping him from the wheelchair and dragging him quite aggressively away from it.

I think this is a really poor article from someone who, as a councillor should know better.

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“Although he presents himself as a cerebral palsy victim in a wheelchair . . .”

No, he *is* a cerebral palsy victim in a wheelchair. And here, I think, is the greatest problem with you argument: he is in a wheelchair. I see no reason whatsoever why it was necessary to eject the man from his wheelchair and *drag* him across the street.

Whether he is partially mobile, completely immobile, or occasionally mobile, there is still no justification for this?

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I wouldn’t really call it “reckless thrill seeking”. He has causes that he is passionate about and goes out to great lengths (along with many other people) to get these things noticed.

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What a completely uninformed pile of drivel this article is. I’m not going to attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance, and so I shall attempt to explain to you why you’re wrong here.

First of all, I’d like you to acquaint yourself with the “Spoon Theory” of disability. It’s a very good way of explaining the experience of disability to currently able bodied folk. http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory-written-by-christine-miserandino/

The crux of it is that some days, one has more energy to dedicate to tasks than others, and that living with a disability involves being careful with how you distribute your energy.

This may well be apparent the extract from McIntyre’s blog you posted. I note you have selectively bolded the last two words. Were you to have selectively bolded the first sentence, it would read quite differently, suggesting that walking is an arduous task for McIntyre.

To suggest therefore that he is somehow shamming his disability (evident in your use of the phrase “presents himself as…”) is fallacious.

Regarding your general justification of police tactics in the final paragraph of your post. There is very little scientific evidence to back up your position. A read of these guidelines for best practice in policing crowds may help you to understand your errors: http://bit.ly/i4U6Fr This report is evidence-based. To summarise: current police tactics are ineffective and conducive to violence.

I hope this helps you. I believe that you are simply unaware of the discourse surrounding disability and uninformed of the evidence surrounding policing.

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“Circuit Ben Says:
December 14th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
I’m currently writing to all disabled support groups in Ealing and the surrounding areas.”

Good for you. Mr Taylor: apart getting you into an ethical quagmire, this post betrays a serious lack of political judgement. I would not be at all pleased with you if you represented my constituency, and that, I might add, is an understatement.

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What a spiteful and idiotic piece of writing.

Do you have any evidence with which to back up the snide implication that Jody McIntyre has been dishonest in “presenting” himself as a cerebral palsy sufferer? Do you have any evidence to suggest that he wasn’t protesting peacefully, as he claims? Do you think that violence against protestors can be justified based on the contents of their blog?

You should be ashamed of yourself.

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“McIntyre seems to want to indulge in riskless thrill seeking. If he dishes it out, he should learn to take it.”

So, if he wants to exercise his democratic right to protest, he should be prepared to be met by riot police who attack him and drag him out of his wheelchair? Is that what you’re saying? What a disgusting attitude.

Young people just can’t win: if we stay quiet we’re derided as apathetic and self-obsessed, but if we get politically active we’re told we deserve to get beaten up by riot police. I for one salute Jody McIntyre – at least he stood up for what he believes in (so to speak). Has councillor Taylor ever protested against anything? Or does he believe people should just shut up and do what they’re told?

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Did the policemen know who they were dragging out of the chair, and did they know his previous? It would seem so.

If they did know, then was it revenge and hatred that prompted their behaviour?

The police certainly need to explain in public why they acted the way they did. To drag this man the way they did seemed like gratuitous violence.

Apart from anything else it was a particularly foolish thing to do knowing that it would get into the media.

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How is the fact that Jody has some ability to walk very slowly and with great difficulty a justification for the police, who would not have known that (even though it’s irrelevant anyway), dragging him out of his wheelchair and beating him?

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@ most posters above

“Although he presents himself as a cerebral palsy victim in a wheelchair . . .”

Poor praising but a legitimate sentiment. He a cerebral palsey sufferer, who is presenting himself as a victim.

There are explanations of what is happened if for example the police officer wanted to question him for earlier actions and the wheel chair had been aggressively wheeled at the police in a threatening manner, I would expect the police to remove him from the chair to somewhere safe to sit (like the barrier) to question him. Whatever the police officers intentions, the interference by other protestors would have made this course of action impossible.

I am not saying this is what is going on simply that it is possible, and to judge from the level of information available is premature. I believe what Phil was trying to express was that this man sounds like he is used to exploiting his disability to get what he wants. His claim that something was “only words” and that could pose no threat to police officers illustrates this.

Anyone with any level of intelligence knows that if person A instruct person B to kill person C and subsequently B obliges both A and B will be charged with murder or related crimes on a plea bargain. You would not find a judge and jury so happy to say “it was only words” the perpetrators would be getting serious sentences. This man is clearly not stupid he know this, yet claims that words pose no threat. Incitement of violence is a crime in this country, so words can land you in a lot of trouble precisely because they can pose a threat. Fire, crowded theatres etc?

Again I am not saying he has committed any of these crimes but to assume that because he has cerebral palsey he is not capable of committing a crime in a riot or that any action taken against him is illegitimate is patronising and ignorant.

Perhaps you all should see the man not the wheel chair.

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Seems, as usual, our lefty bedwetter chums cannot see past the wheelchair and are ranting in faux outrage. Dont bother with the facts like he is a violent protester who later attempted to assault a police officer, just play the PC card and shreik and shriek and shriek about ‘inequality’. Go on, stamp you foot really hard!

Thing is, this ‘progressive’ style of debate is a typical smear tactic to avoid hard truths. We have seen it time and again through the disaster that was the new labour period, most often applied via the race card.

You utterly patronise Mcintyre (and by extension disabled people in general) with you ‘wont somebody think of the disabled!’ cry and trying to use it as a stick to beat the police. Being wheelchair bound most of the time doesnt seem to stop McIntyre from being a violent protester with a pashion for causing trouble. I actually admire him for not letting his disability get in the way of life as much as he is able. thing is, he lets himself down with his tiresome bleating about ‘brutality’

Thing is, i dont believe he is in any way genuine in this regards, this is exactly the response he was looking for. All he needs is a few useful idiots from the left sqealing to make his point for him.

But as we have seen time and again, the libera/socialistl ‘progressives’ dont see truth as an important part of the debate process. Phil Woolas, former President of the NUS, displayed this to fine effect during the election.

So, take the rose tinted glasses off and take a proper look at a violent anarchist agitator who was treated perfectly reasonably by the police.

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You pathetic, disgusting little man. How can you write this rubbish? The man is in a wheelchair. He has cerebral palsy. What part of that do you not understand?

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You clearly have no understanding of the nature of disability. Cerebral Palsy is one of many impairments which has hugely variable level of impairment in any one person. I work with disabled young people who can often do much much more than their predecessors with certain disabilities thanks to therapies and medication but are still impacted by their impairments on a long term and sustained basis.

Often someone can do an activity once, but can only do it for short periods of time, may not be able to repeat it many times in a time period and may not be able to do it regularly. for someone with Cerebral Palsy the impact of doing an activity which is even “Just a little too tiring” can result in long term health problems, muscle fatigues, achiness and pain which does not settle down as long as overactivity goes on. Others are more fortunate and can do certain things once or twice as long as they rest in between.

I suspect Jody being able to walk up 9 flights of stairs was *very* slow and was extremely tiring for him at the time and afterwards. A lot will depend on how effective medication if he has any is being on any given day and what he has or hasn’t done before. And indeed may have been utterly foolish from a “conserving energy” and “not overdoing it” perspective. That is his choice and he has to accept the consequences of that which I am sure he does.

I do not believe there is much that Jody McIntyre could have done to justify the police removing him from his wheelchair. It is an absolute and incompromisable right for a disabled person to have access to their mobility aids and assistive technology on their (our) terms at all times. Removing Jody from his wheelchair as seen in the second incident’s footage was not acceptable no matter what Jody may or may not have done or said to the police. I don’t care if he’s a hardened activist or a nice little old man from down the street or a 14 year old young person – no one deserves to have their mobility aids taken from them (or in this case be forcibly removed from them).

Access to one’s mobility aid should not be “because you are good” or “because you do as the police say” or “because someone feels like it”. But it often is in reality and should be challenged whenever this happens! I know many disabled people whose aids are treated like disposable items or privileges when they are in fact rights enshrined in UK law. I haven’t had my disability aids taken from me in a very long time, but I have been in trouble as a young person for saying “NO! Don’t Do That!” because someone’s authority was deemed more important than my right to access to my disability aids.

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All,

I was writing a blog, not a legal case or a book.

I am not advocating police brutality. That is bad. Do I really have to state that up front?

I am not down on disabled people in general or people with cerebral palsy. That would be bad too and would make some of my loved ones miserable. Do I really have to state that up front?

Am I allowed to use direct language or does everything I say have to be nuanced into grey goo?

I think that the contrast between McIntyre’s on screen victim performance with his role as pro-active, enthusiastic protestor is just plain mendacious and I thought that it was well worth calling out.

I don’t approve of McIntyre the protestor but I might respect him and respect him all the more for getting on with his life and not being defined by his disability. I have no time for McIntyre the whinger.

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“Although he presents himself as a cerebral palsy victim in a wheelchair …”

Hmmm I say,

Although Phil Taylor presents himself as an Ealing councillor he’s actually just a bit of a fool”.

Really, and even if that were true it does not absolve the police treating someone like that. If that was your son, daughter etc., i challenge you to feel the same way.

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Your vile attack on Paul McIntyre mirrors the assault by the paid thugs employed by the met. I say this with pain as many of my good friends ARE serving police officers and ALL to a man and women have stated that the behaviour exhibited, by THE POLICE, during those protests deserves (but will not receive) harsh reprimand. I cannot state strong enough my revulsion of the behaviour of the met in these situations. I further fear that the policing was designed deliberately to inflame the protesters and provide fodder for the media and blogs like yours, you should apologize and resign!

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To quote Henry Brubaker from the above post : “So, take the rose tinted glasses off and take a proper look at a violent anarchist agitator who was treated perfectly reasonably by the police”

http://www.mitchell-images.com/#/jody-mcintyre/4546538655

A series of shots taken during the afternoon of the latest student protest in London. The young man in the shots, Jody McIntyre claims he was assaulted by the police.
This claim relates to an event later in the evening, however, these shots show the way the police dealt with Mr McIntyre in the afternoon.

At the time these shots were taken the police were under a barrage of bricks, bottles and metal fence panels, as well as being involved in hand to hand fighting with the crowd.
Mr McIntyre was in the front row of the crowd and in a very precarious position, especially as he is wheelchair bound.

It was clear from my vantage point that the police moved him as gently as possible and in doing so the officers put themselves in personal danger from the hail of missiles.

Once he had been moved away from the front line to a safe distance, the officers sat him on a low level wall. Mr McIntyre got up and started arguing with an officer. He was so wound up that he eventually tried to strike an officer and was only stopped from doing this due to the intervention of a famale passer-by.

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Very, very happy that Mr Taylor is not my councillor.

This is a very depressing article to read. Despite your protestations, Mr Taylor, you most certainly are an apologist for police brutality and, as you say, that is … er … “bad”.

The case you are making is what’s usually referred to as the “thin end of the wedge”, a concept that is well known and, I thought, well-understood. You are basically suggesting that police brutality is ok when the victims are “bad” people: “The police are entitled I think to start pushing and shoving when hostile and potentially violent protestors will not move out of their way.”

What I saw was considerably more than “pushing and shoving” Mr Taylor, but in any event, if we take your approach, then it all comes down to the police deciding who is good and who is bad – with all the predictable consequences. That is why civilised societies do not permit the police to make these decisions. We expect restraint, we expect civilised, orderly policing within the boundaries laid down by law and, if the police cross the line, they must expect to suffer the consequences.

I think it’s called policing by consent?

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There’s an awful lot of Cerebral Palsy ‘experts’ crawling out of the woodwork here….

Looks like he dons the WChair as a sort of ‘superpower invisibility cloak’ – when it suits him. And goes bounding up 9 flights of stairs when the thrill attracts.

Seems to me that this violent (and dishonest) young man got what he was looking for and deserved.

I think he ought to chill out and get himself a girlfriend.

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Sir,

My biggest problem with your defence is that your language is *not* ‘direct’. Far from it. The way in which you express yourself leaves far too much unsaid.

Worst of all is this claim that he ‘presents’ himself as a cerebral palsy victim. What a sly thing to say.

You are a councillor: people expect a measure of self-expression is found severely wanting here.

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Surely if anyone goes on a demonstration at which in the past violence has occured, and from his own blog and is own words on the TV he claims the police incite violence then he forefeits any sympathy. I for one actually commend the police in the way they handled a very difficult situation. How much more would this person have been complaining if he had been really injured, by the rioters and the police had let it happen. The Police are dammed if they do and dammed if they dont. The day he purposely put himself at risk is the day he lost his right to complain.

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As it is clear that McIntyre was “manhandled” (i.e. moved but manhandled sounds rough) for his own safety to be out of harms way I can’t see what the shrieking hysteria is all about. Plus most comments here seem to be whinging about semantics of way Phil Taylor has written the blogpost.

On another of the sub-stories being used to blacken the Police, I presume soon we can have some facts about what Alfie was hit on the head with; all the media are saying “apparently” hit with a truncheon, maybe it was a piece of metal fencing flying throught he air…or a snooker ball.

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What a beautiful mind Jody has. Would be wonderful if it was his (and it’s shared by many) vision of the future that became reality, and the perverted present which has come about thanks to (amongst others) many blood sucking insects (poli-tics) such as Phil Taylor was destroyed forever. And God forbid that their visions for the future ever become reality. The present is already horrible enough. Mr McIntyre, sir, you are an inspiration to us all. The Satanic politicians and media have gone straight to attacking you, bypassing the usual “ignoring” they attempt first. If the prince of the power of the air-waves (Ephesians 2:2) isn’t attacking you, you aren’t doing something right, so God bless you, because you ARE doing something right.

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# Sarah Punshon Says:
December 14th, 2010 at 10:20 pm

You pathetic, disgusting little man. How can you write this rubbish? The man is in a wheelchair. He has cerebral palsy. What part of that do you not understand?

Sarah, Which part of ‘What was a man in a wheelchair doing at a violent demo?’ do YOU not understand?
When I watch the clip I see police trying to move an idiot for his own protection.

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so Phil
Are you going to stand up for whats right?
AS a saver I am getting screwed unyet i did not create this mess.
Its the banks and people who borrowed too much that screwed it up yet they get bailed out and people like me get screwed.
If things do not change what you have just seen in this riot will look like childs play compared to what will happen if justice is not preserved.
WE the people will see no other way than to put heads on sticks

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what a surprise a councillor following the governments agenda, im surprised you didn’t try and link Jody to ‘global warming’ while you were at it.

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Reading between the lines, it looks exceedingly to me like you have something of robust attitude towards disabled people in general, with remarks like ‘getting on with his life’ and ‘not being defined by his disability’.

What would you say to someone disabled who had to bring – and win – an ET case against his employers after he tried to get on with his life by applying for a promotion but then found his employers defining him by his disability by turning him down for said promotion because of said disability??

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Can dish it out, but can’t take it? Absolutely spot on sir.

If he wants equality then he needs to learn that he can’t hide behind his disability when it suits him. When I hear the name Jody McIntire, do I think of a cerebral palsy wheelchair user? No! I’m not discriminate like that. All I think is ‘this man is a complete and utter bell-end’.

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From reading the above post, and some of the ensuing comments, I feel I need to write something. As a close friend of Jody’s, I am not even sure where to start with the shocking inaccuracies posted here.

“McIntyre is not being particularly honest though. Although he presents himself as a cerebral palsy victim in a wheelchair he does not mention that by his own account he walked up the 9 stories of stairs of the 30 Millbank building during the student riots of 10th November”

A couple of years ago, when Jody climbed Machu Picchu on his own with no help, I, nor anyone else, accused him of being “dishonest” about his disability. Therefore, Mr Taylor accusing him of being “a whinger” or being defined by his disability, particularly angers me as this is something that Jody has always strived to never let happen.

Furthermore, the contrasts drawn between his “on screen victim performance” and his “pro-active protester” are entirely invalid. If you paid attention to any tv or newspaper interviews with Jody, you would note how every time without fail he mentions the real victims, of which he purposefully does not include himself.

But obviously these ignorances shown towards Jody as an individual are not the main problem. The main problem is that Mr Taylor here (and other posts – see directly above) shows a clear incapability to differentiate between treated disabled peoples as equal, whilst still acknowledging their disabilities.
This profound ignorance of cerebral palsy I can only hope is feigned, in order for Mr Taylor to make his weak argument (all of which are moot points – because at the end of the day a non-threatening man got pulled and dragged from his wheelchair by police – this is never okay)

Everything he has been accused of here is so very misguided. Sadly I havent got the time to go through everything said here, or elsewhere. More than anything this shows the danger of blogs by people like Phil here as it shows he can say the most wildly incorrect things and a few ignorami out there actually take it on board. I think a lot of people online have spoken out against Jody to be controversial, get a few more hits on their otherwise bland blog, but you, Phil, should know better.

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tThis article is utterly despicable. i’ve a good mind to leaflet-drop every house in Northfield ward and tell the voters about what a despicable man their councillor is.

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MarkC said: “Surely if anyone goes on a demonstration at which in the past violence has occured, and from his own blog and his own words on the TV he claims the police incite violence then he forefeits any sympathy.”

Whydoes he forfeit any sympathy just because he knows that the police incite violence at these demonstrations? Should he submit to the threat of police violence, and not attend the protests in case they assault him? We would have no rights in this country if people had not been prepared to stand up to power in the past.

“I for one actually commend the police in the way they handled a very difficult situation. How much more would this person have been complaining if he had been really injured, by the rioters and the police had let it happen.”

You commend the police for hitting a disabled man with a baton and repeatedly dragging him out of his wheelchair onto the ground? Why? Is there any level of brutality that would be unacceptable in your eyes.

Jody was never in any danger from the other protestors, only from the police.

Mr. Taylor… you, sir, are a joke, and not a funny one.

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England does have a prince – Jody McIntyre.

He has more honesty, intellect, and balls then any of the three princes in waiting.

And what does the queen do – she sends out her goons to silence those not so privileged who want to go to school!

It is clear that the queen loves the banksters – not the folks.

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Jody McIntyre – what a prick. This egotistical waste of oxygen should have been tipped in to the Thames.

Disability groups campaign for equality. McIntyre was treated with equality and now there are complaints?

Grow the hell up.

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JakeJ Says:

December 17th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
England does have a prince – Jody McIntyre.

He has more honesty, intellect, and balls then any of the three princes in waiting.

And what does the queen do – she sends out her goons to silence those not so privileged who want to go to school!

It is clear that the queen loves the banksters – not the folks

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He is some prince now JAKEJ

Getting dropped by Huffington and the Indy for inciting riot, ho ho ho

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