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Nothing between the ears - UK's Surrey Police assault and arrest man for "not smiling"

published by Tom Sullivan on Sun, 2012-08-12 21:14

A father with Parkinson's disease was arrested as he watched the Olympic cycling road race because he 'failed to smile or look like he was enjoying himself'.

Mark Worsfold, a martial arts trainer and former soldier, claims that he was thrown to the floor and handcuffed just as cyclists passed by.

His worried wife Nicola only found out he was being held after she reported him missing when he did not turn up for their daughter's ninth birthday party.

Source and full story: Daily Mail, 8 August 2012

Tags: 
UNITED KINGDOM
POLICE STATE
BARBARITY
VIOLENCE

Comments

Submitted by Heydrich on Sun, 2012-08-12 21:34.

Whenever I see a policeman, I discretely move so he cannot see me, even if he is stopped in a police car a hundred yards away from me. I never know what those police bastards will try. Even if I am quietly sitting in a public space, gazing at the sky with empty hands in my lap, I know they might attack me. That’s life today. And it gets worse all the time.

I don't consider this to be timid or cowardly. I consider that I am denying the fuckers an opportunity to indulge themselves.

Submitted by andie531 on Mon, 2012-08-13 00:13.

I have often been ordered by complete strangers to "smile" -  this business seems to plague women more. 

http://community.feministing.com/2012/04/02/telling-women-to-smile-is-...

These cops probably would have given me the death penalty. 

This guy needs to sue.  What the hell is the world coming to when you can get arrested for a facial expression?

In prison, a prisoner can get written up by a guard for not smiling, aka "reckless eyeballs"

These cops must think of us as prisoners.  I cannot fathom arresting someone for this.

Submitted by Cashel23 on Mon, 2012-08-13 13:18.

'Absurd' and 'Orwellian' are the only two words that come to mind

Submitted by Cashel23 on Mon, 2012-08-13 13:20.

And that is the same country that dares point the finger at Russia, China, Syria, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela....

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