This motion was passed unanimously at a UCU branch meeting at CONEL College in Tottenham, 15 January 2014. You can download it as a PDF or as a Microsoft Word document.

Branch notes

• That the jury at the inquest into the killing of Mark Duggan concluded that he had not been holding a gun when he was shot dead by armed police
• That despite this the killing was found ‘lawful’
• That even though Mark’s criminal record was minor, with two fines on his record, the media continually referred to Mark as a violent gangster and ‘one of the 48 most dangerous criminals in Europe’
• That the police and the IPCC actively collaborated with the media to spread lies and disinformation in the days after Mark’s killing – e.g. that there was a ‘shoot-out’ in which an officer had been ‘saved’ when a bullet lodged in his radio (the bullet was actually from a police gun)
• That Mark Duggan is the latest in a series of black men and women from Tottenham who have died at the hands of the police since 1985 – Cynthia Jarrett, Joy Gardner, Roger Sylvester, now Mark – and for whose deaths no police officer has faced criminal charges
• That in stark contrast, many young people in our community faced draconian prison sentences for minor crimes committed in the heat of the riots following Mark’s death

Branch believes

• That the verdict was influenced by the racist way in which Mark’s character was tarnished by the police and media
• That the decision to find it lawful for the police to shoot an unarmed person has put all young black people in our college and beyond at risk
• That everyone in our community, irrespective of race, age and background, should be entitled to walk the streets without fear

Branch agrees

• To send our condolences and solidarity to the family of Mark Duggan at this very difficult time
• To support the family in their continuing fight for justice for Mark
• To inform David Lammy MP and the local press about the branch’s concern

Carried unanimously