A Glasgow G20 protestor – arrested at last year’s City of London demonstration – was cleared of violent disorder by a jury today after telling them he was simply appealing to aggressive police.
Harvey Brown, 30, of Cathcart Road became the face of the demo after his bloodstained bare-chested image was shown all over the world and television cameras zoomed in as he confronted police lines.
“I was hit on the head with a baton after already having been punched and was trying to keep an eye on the officer who hit me and see any serial number,” he told Isleworth Crown Court.
“I could feel the blood coming down my face and I was a bit shocked and upset,” added Brown, who was arrested on April 1 outside the Bank of England.
“I was watching the police in case they came forward and tried to hit me again and was asking them why they had hit me because I had not done anything and why they were hitting other people.
“I said I was a peaceful protestor and that I was not going to hit them back.”
The prosecution alleged Brown had deliberately “inflamed” the crowd to be aggressive against the thin police line, which was bombarded with bottles, batteries, bleach, scaffold clips, bits of wood and other objects.
He admitted kicking out at the police line, but insisted it was in self-defence. “I thought the policeman was going to hit me with his baton so I kicked out towards him to keep him at bay.
“I was quite emotional about everything, crying. I was weak and tired by this point.
“I was knocked to the ground and kicked by a police officer as people tried to pick me up,” added Brown.
“I was trying to walk through the police line. I thought we had been there long enough and I wanted to continue the march.”
It took the jury ninety minutes to unanimously find the defendant not guilty of violent disorder, a charge that has seen other G20 protestors jailed for two years.
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