Video shows police shoving G20 demo victim

By Tim Castle

LONDON (Reuters) - A video published on a newspaper website on Tuesday shows police apparently shoving to the ground a man who died minutes later during anti-capitalist demonstrations in London on the eve of the G20 summit.

Ian Tomlinson, 47, a newspaper seller, collapsed and died from a heart attack soon after the incident in a street by the Bank of England shown in the footage on the Guardian website.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is investigating Tomlinson's death, said it was seeking to obtain its own copy of the video.

Witnesses had told the police watchdog that Tomlinson did have contact with officers before he died, but until now this had not been shown in photos and CCTV pictures obtained of the man making his way home through the protests.

The opposition Liberal Democrats said the incident shown on the video was "sickening" and called for a full criminal investigation.

"This video clearly shows an unprovoked attack by a police officer on a passer-by," said the party's justice spokesman David Howarth.

"The officer concerned and the other officers shown in the video must immediately come forward."

The video, filmed by a New York fund manager who was in London on business, shows Tomlinson walking alone with his hands in his pockets in front of a line of police officers, some with dogs and others equipped with riot helmets, shields and batons.