StoneHappyMonday
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 10, 2001
- Messages
- 18,084
http://www.theguardian.com/football...-deadly-mistakes-and-lies-that-lasted-decades
I know 27 years ago most of you were barely born. I know there is very little sympathy for football in this forum. But this is a story that transcends all of that, a story of injustice unmatched in our times. As drug users who feel affronted at laws you see as being against you, you should feel some empathy. Hell, as human beings, always seeking truth and justice, you should feel an anger burning bright at what has been finally been uncovered today.
Read the link. It's long, but documents the story better than I can. For those who won't, here's my weak attempt at summarising.
On April 15th 1989 Liverpool football fans went to watch a football match. 96 of them never came home. But it's so much more than that. Not only did they not come home, they were blamed, by the establishment, by the police, by the media for their own deaths. Lies were spread about drunken behaviour. Dead bodies were treated as pieces of meat - while relatives wept, they were told they could have no access to their dead loved ones as they were 'the property' of the coroner now.
The South Yorkshire Police have a lot to answer for. Four years earlier they had battered miners heads at Orgreave and been defended in the media, a compliant BBC editing video footage to make it appear miners attacked police, rather than the other way around. Now the media, indeed the BBC, did the police's bidding once more. A hopelessly inadequate force, led by David Duckenfield, a man completely out of his depth, first lost control of a growing crowd then compounded the mistake by opening a gate that led fans inside the ground to their deaths.
And then lied about it.
This has to be seen in context. And the context was another attack on 'the plebs'. It wasn't enough that the establishment hated football fans (and remember, the immediate aftermath of this was Thatcher trying to introduce ID cards just so ordinary people could watch a sporting event). They had to take it further and blame the people for the mistakes of the police.
The Sun published a now infamous edition days later with a front page headline of "The Truth". This consisted of lies made up by the police, attacking normal working people as 'animals' whose own drink problems had led to these events. And that's not to mention the accusations of people pissing over dead bodies (many of the dead bodies had pissed themselves) and the 'looting' of those dead bodies.
How low can the establishment go?
Very, very low.
It's taken 27 years to overturn this narrative. Police officers lied and lied throughout questioning until they could lie no more and fell, crushed (but not crushed enough) under the weight of their own lies. I know I am using the word lie a lot. It is, I assure you, fully intentional.
Respect to the relatives of the Hillborough dead. They have fought tenaciously to get this verdict today. And it is but the truth. A simple thing you'd imagine.
As drug users we should know how hard truth sometimes is to come by.
Respect to everyone involved in bringing this justice about.
I know 27 years ago most of you were barely born. I know there is very little sympathy for football in this forum. But this is a story that transcends all of that, a story of injustice unmatched in our times. As drug users who feel affronted at laws you see as being against you, you should feel some empathy. Hell, as human beings, always seeking truth and justice, you should feel an anger burning bright at what has been finally been uncovered today.
Read the link. It's long, but documents the story better than I can. For those who won't, here's my weak attempt at summarising.
On April 15th 1989 Liverpool football fans went to watch a football match. 96 of them never came home. But it's so much more than that. Not only did they not come home, they were blamed, by the establishment, by the police, by the media for their own deaths. Lies were spread about drunken behaviour. Dead bodies were treated as pieces of meat - while relatives wept, they were told they could have no access to their dead loved ones as they were 'the property' of the coroner now.
The South Yorkshire Police have a lot to answer for. Four years earlier they had battered miners heads at Orgreave and been defended in the media, a compliant BBC editing video footage to make it appear miners attacked police, rather than the other way around. Now the media, indeed the BBC, did the police's bidding once more. A hopelessly inadequate force, led by David Duckenfield, a man completely out of his depth, first lost control of a growing crowd then compounded the mistake by opening a gate that led fans inside the ground to their deaths.
And then lied about it.
This has to be seen in context. And the context was another attack on 'the plebs'. It wasn't enough that the establishment hated football fans (and remember, the immediate aftermath of this was Thatcher trying to introduce ID cards just so ordinary people could watch a sporting event). They had to take it further and blame the people for the mistakes of the police.
The Sun published a now infamous edition days later with a front page headline of "The Truth". This consisted of lies made up by the police, attacking normal working people as 'animals' whose own drink problems had led to these events. And that's not to mention the accusations of people pissing over dead bodies (many of the dead bodies had pissed themselves) and the 'looting' of those dead bodies.
How low can the establishment go?
Very, very low.
It's taken 27 years to overturn this narrative. Police officers lied and lied throughout questioning until they could lie no more and fell, crushed (but not crushed enough) under the weight of their own lies. I know I am using the word lie a lot. It is, I assure you, fully intentional.
Respect to the relatives of the Hillborough dead. They have fought tenaciously to get this verdict today. And it is but the truth. A simple thing you'd imagine.
As drug users we should know how hard truth sometimes is to come by.
Respect to everyone involved in bringing this justice about.
