The 97

[Paulie Dangerously]

South Yorkshire Police Statement:

 

 

 

 

Too little too late. 

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

Over a quarter of a century and the record is finally set straight. Tears in my eyes here.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Too little too late.

As Barry Devonside just interviewed on Sky said.

 

He also said that the apology is a total contradiction of the conduct of SYP in the inquests, including up until last week.

 

He rightly says that if they've been so quick to accept "Unequivocal" responsibility now, but still used the inquest to peddle lies about drunk, ticketless fans, then surely there's been an attempt to pervert the course of justice from SYP right until the bitters end.

 

Charge every one of them.

[Bjornebye]

Very surreal. God bless the families. I wish I had an ounce of their courage.

[GJM]

It was a very real possibility that this day would never come. There was nothing inevitable about it. It took the kind of strength, courage, determination and dignity that most of us are fortunate to never have to find within ourselves.

 

As somebody posted earlier in this thread, today highlights both the very best, and the very worse, of human character. Sometimes one can cry and not know whether it is with joy, sadness or rage.

[Oh Buoy]

That video has broken me. 

 

After 27 years, may they all sleep well. 

 

Good night and god bless. 

[thegreatelephant]

[Strontium]

It feels like a great pall has been lifted from the city and that finally we can start to look forward rather than looking back.

 

Congratulations to everyone who fought so long and so hard for the truth to be heard.

[RoboRiise]

As Barry Devonside just interviewed on Sky said.

 

He also said that the apology is a total contradiction of the conduct of SYP in the inquests, including up until last week.

 

He rightly says that if they've been so quick to accept "Unequivocal" responsibility now, but still used the inquest to peddle lies about drunk, ticketless fans, then surely there's been an attempt to pervert the course of justice from SYP right until the bitter end.

 

Charge every one of them.

 

The image I can't get out of my head is the pride in the eyes of a 26 year old man in May 2005 as he watched his cousin lift the European Cup as captain of Liverpool FC.

 

Pride that nobody ever got to see because South Yorkshire police killed him 16 years earlier and then spent 27 years, right up to the final days of this inquest, trying to deny their responsibility for it and for the deaths of 95 other Liverpool fans, instead choosing to repeatedly blame the very people whose lives had been irrevocably affected by their decisions.

 

They have put the families of the 96 through a living hell for those 27 years. So many lives damaged.  It's enough to break your heart a hundred times over.

 

I sincerely hope that those responsible at the time and those who have been complicit in their actions since then by seeking to misdirect, cover up and otherwise influence the process which has eventally led to today's verdicts will now face the full extent of the law that they have sought to pervert for so long.

 

That's the people responsible for the disaster itself, the people responsible for the original whitewash inquest and every other coward who has propped up their lies from the day after the disaster right up to this week.  None of them are fit to be called human.

[Gnasher]

https://twitter.com/jonsnowC4/status/724970385209458688

 

Well in Jon Snow regarding the sun. Not so fucking mouthy now are you?

[Nightcat]

God bless the victims and their families.

[Arl arse]

Adam Spearritt: Compression asphyxia, time of death 16.45 to 16.50

 

That poor kid was only 14. Pulled from the crowd and left to die in the gym.

 

When you read that and think of your own kids....I don't know how to finish that sentence.

 

RIP the 96.

Adam was a good friend of mine, used to play in the same football team as him. That news has gutted me.

God knows how it's effected his family.

[Anubis]

I see the Police Federation won't apologise for smearing the fans back in 1989. Apparently not for the current chief to comment on what his predecessors may or 'may not have' done.

[Oh Buoy]

https://twitter.com/LivEchonews/status/724920755721490432

 

Heading here after work.

[Sputnik1]

Aldo: The biggest victory in Liverpool's history - a day I never thought would come

 

 

'I'm proud to be a Scouser. I know how we are. We were never going to let this go.'

 

I’m a die hard Scouser. I may have played for the Republic of Ireland, but Liverpool is my home, my city, my blood. It always has been, always will be.

It’s hurt me over the years, having people tell me to ‘give it a rest’ over Hillsborough. Telling me they know what happened that day, or that people need to move on or get over it.

I’ve lost count of the number of arguments I’ve had in my life on the issue. I’ve told that many ignorant people where to go.

Those people never understood the reality of Hillsborough, but we did. The people of Liverpool did.

We always knew what really happened. We always knew what the story was. We always knew the truth.

And now the whole world knows it too.

Today’s verdicts are a complete, and absolutely deserved, vindication for the victims, for the survivors, the families, and for Liverpool fans and the city as a whole.

This, for me, is the biggest victory in the history of the club. And it’s got nothing to do with football.

 

As players, of course, we were very close to it all. A lot of of us have bonds with the families that will last forever. The memories of that day will never, ever be erased.

And today is a day that we never thought we’d see at one stage, to be honest.

But when the Prime Minister said sorry back in 2012, after the findings of the Hillsborough Independent Panel were released, then I knew in the back of my mind that some sort of closure would follow.

It needed to happen, it’s what the families wanted and what they needed. And let’s not forget the survivors either, by the way. It affected everyone, left its mark on everyone, including the players. We needed to see this day.

There are so many heroes associated with this fight. So many people who have always known the truth, and have had it thrown back in their face time and time again.

Do you know what? A lot of cities would have crumbled in the face of that hostility, that ignorance, that opposition. Not Liverpool.

 

The way the families have conducted themselves throughout, with such dignity, such class, such passion for what was right - no praise is too high for those people.

I’m proud to be a Scouser. I know how we are, we fight for what’s right and what we believe in. We always have. We were never going to let this go.

“They picked on the wrong people.”

Never a truer word spoken.

The only sadness for me is that some people who deserved to see this day weren’t here. The likes of Anne Williams, who fought so hard, didn’t get to see this day. That hurts, and my heart goes out.

But to see the families outside that court, having lived through hell on a daily basis for 27 years, to see them singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ – that will live with me for the rest of my life. It was a special moment.

 

There is still anger in there, of course. How could there not be, after the lies and the cover-up that has been going on? Twenty-seven years! It’s a disgrace, and I hope that now the truth is out, those whose culpability has been proven will get what they deserve.

I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I wish Margaret Thatcher was still alive today. I’d like to see the fingers being pointed in her direction today, I tell you. What happened at Hillsborough and then in the aftermath is nothing short of a scandal.

The overriding emotion today, though, is one of pride. Pride for the families, pride for the survivors, pride for the city of Liverpool.

I’ll raise a glass to the 96 tonight. Never forgotten, and now, after 27 tortuous years, finally the truth has been told.

You’ll Never Walk Alone.

[thegreatelephant]

they never gave up despite all the enormous odds against.

 

we're Liverpool aren't we?

[bonesman]

RIP the 96.

 

Now the whole world knows what we knew all along.

[Denny Crane]

 

BY NEIL ATKINSON

 

 

The Hillsborough verdict isn’t about football – the disaster was a national disgrace

 

It wasn't about football in 1989, it isn't about football now. It is about the fact that dehumanising doesn't just happen in moments, but can lead to deaths in seconds, can lead to lies for years, can ruin lives for lifetimes.

 

It is important on days like today to remember that we can't expect one correct response from the thousands of people touched by the national disgrace which is the Hillsborough Disaster but can only hope for many human ones. Since the 15th April 1989 so many people have responded differently to what the events of that day set in motion. The most we can ask of ourselves is to be human and to allow others to be human in their own way. This process has been so long running and has involved so many different aspects of society that all human life is here.

 

Even now there are no neat endings. Even now the process is on going. All we can say is there just needs to be humanity. Yet even in this inquest, it was in short supply from some, for example the South Yorkshire Police and Yorkshire Ambulance Service who fought tooth and nail to avoid adverse findings from the jury. Unlike them all we can attempt to do is be gentle and accept there are few right answers, just people doing their best.

 

For instance, it is important to remember that a very small number of the families aren't even represented at the inquest. A number of the survivors would just wish to put it behind them. They just wanted to get on with their lives after the cataclysmic event. This is very human and a perfectly understandable response.

 

For some of the families and survivors today's verdict is enough. It's the end of the road, the wrong righted, the times of death confirmed. It is time to move on and get beyond this. This is very human and a perfectly understandable response.

 

For many others of the families and survivors today's verdict is a step on the road. The pressure will now come onto the IPCC, Operation Resolve and the CPS to see charges handed down, to see the process through to its conclusion in a courtroom. This is very human and a perfectly understandable response.

 

And for some, that event that will never be enough. Even that will never be enough for what happened twenty seven years ago and what went on to happen in the days, weeks and years that followed. For some there will be no respite from this, there will be no rest from the anger and the grief and the shame they were forced to feel. There will be no release. There will be no action which will ever bring peace, not after all the suppression and the sidelining of their truth, their truth which transpired to actually be The Truth. There is no end to this. This is what miscarriages of justice do. This too is very human and a perfectly understandable response.

 

Today, two incontrovertible facts have been made clear again: Firstly, that the 96 people were unlawfully killed. Secondly, that the behaviour of the Liverpool supporters did not cause the disaster. Further, what has become crystal clear through the Hillsborough Independent Panel Report, through this inquest, and what will become even clearer with the IPCC and Operation Resolve report expected by the end of the year, is the extent to which all these very human people were aggressively, endlessly dehumanised. Before, during and after the 15th April 1989.

 

 

The preparation of the semi-final and the response to the disaster – the immediate disaster, was inhumane. This is what the unlawful killing verdict means. The response to the disaster – the days, weeks and years that followed the 15th April 1989, did nothing but dehumanise those who had suffered: dehumanised the families bereaved; dehumanised those in the Leppings Lane end who survived and saved others when those there to protect them wilfully failed to act; dehumanised a city trapped in collective grief. The dehumanising started and it simply didn't stop, not for years, decades.

 

All this has become crystal clear.

 

It was pretty crystal clear all along if we can be honest with each other. But this is what dehumanising people does. What dehumanising people does is obscure what should be crystal clear and instead say that it doesn't really matter, that they turned up late, that they turned up drunk. That they robbed the dead. And then that they have a chip on their shoulder. That they are a self-pity city. That they are always the victims. Always the victims. It is never their fault. They weren't one of us. They were one of them.

 

Dehumanising people doesn't just happen over night – it isn't a cataclysmic event; it caused a cataclysmic event, it obscured a cataclysmic event but it isn't one itself. It is an erosion and a corrosion and it needs the circumstances to work. The Enemy Within. Managed decline. Orgreave. An attitude hammered home day after day after day for a decade and beyond towards working class people and football supporters and a city allowed the dehumanising to occur.

 

There is this line around Hillsborough that is often uttered by those within Liverpool - “they picked on the wrong city”. It's a good folk story to tell ourselves. Like many such lines it is both completely true and absolutely false. Liverpool can organise, yes. Liverpool will fight and this was a fight led by Liverpool's women, Liverpool's mothers who simply would not ever let the lies lie. They wouldn't stand for it. For those who have campaigned aggressively today is another day of vindication, another day where their tenacity and bravery has to be applauded.

 

But they picked on the right city as well. The city was the softest target of a decade which had been set up to create and pick off soft targets. The dehumanisation happened and was allowed to happen to a city because those undertaking it knew so many nationwide would allow it to go on. To go on and on. This isn't just about a right wing government and a corrupt police force back then. The past isn't another country, let's not kid ourselves. The targets remain soft in this country – they are just less visible.

 

Therefore let's take today as another opportunity to be crystal clear and let's keep being crystal clear: Hillsborough is a national disgrace. I've been asked to write this because I host a podcast around Liverpool and Liverpool Football Club, because I write about football. But Hillsborough isn't about football, it just so happens that football is the thing that linked those 96 disparate lives, the thing that linked the thousands on the terraces – this thing of ours.

 

There are so many who should know better in this country, many who would subscribe then and now to a magazine such as this one, many who will have decided things can only get better in 1997, who will have presumed things must have gone wrong somewhere involving the supporters. Who will have assumed Hillsborough is a football tragedy and can be left over there. Who stood by as the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history took place. Because, well, “football supporters.” “Liverpool.” “Something a bit fishy but you know.” You know.

 

 

It wasn't about football in 1989, it isn't about football now. It is about the fact that dehumanising doesn't just happen in moments, but can lead to deaths in seconds, can lead to lies for years, can ruin lives for lifetimes.

 

This is the essence of the national disgrace, of this verdict, of every single time Hillsborough comes clattering back into public view. Our nation did this to its own people. Not the odd bad apple of a police officer, not a rogue reporter or two, not individuals but instead institutionalised inhumanity.

 

Our nation.

 

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/sport/2016/04/hillsborough-verdict-isn-t-about-football-disaster-was-national-disgrace

 

Neil Atkinson writes and presents podcasts at The Anfield Wrap. He tweets @Knox_Harrington

[an tha]

It is a terrible indictment on those in power who tried to cover things up and hoped that the story would go away.

 

But it didn't go away due to the incredible strength and courage of those who fought and refused to be silenced.

 

It shows that strength in unity can prevail over all of those forces and the truth can be uncovered.

 

The truth, the real truth not a hideously distorted version of it is now there for the world to see and for those families to take comfort in.

[Carvalho Diablo]

I was doing alright until I saw a picture of her on Facebook.

 

Got to me.

 

A true working class hero.

 

I don't do inspirational quotes usually. However, today, this seems apt.

 

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."

 

Mahatma Gandhi

 

That's Goddamn right.

[suzy]

Reading all this now and watching on the TV with tears in my eyes. It's making me angry all over again though, but proud too.

 

Well done all involved, never giving up the fight. RIP the 96.

[jimmycase]

Justice, we got JUSTICE! Must admit, had to go have a cry in the bogs at work when I got the news aout 11:30.

 

We got Justice but the battle goes on. There's still a number of ignorant people out there who wont believe the truth. And we must never ever stop fighting them and their hideous lies.

 

Justice for the 96. Justice for the families. God bless them all.

 

YNWA.

[Arl arse]

Celtic send support to Liverpool in wake of Hillsborough verdict

 

 

It was ruled that those who perished were unlawfully killed and that match commander Ch Supt David Duckenfield was "responsible for manslaughter by gross negligence" due to a breach of his duty of care.

"Celtic Football Club notes today’s verdict from the Hillsborough inquest which completely exonerates the 96 fans who tragically and unlawfully lost their lives in the 1989 disaster,” said the statement.

 

“For more than 27 long years the families of those who left us on that fateful day have campaigned for justice in the name of their loved ones and today’s news has finally brought that.

 

“Celtic and Liverpool have a strong bond dating back many years and the club sends its thoughts to all those concerned, including Liverpool FC, the City of Liverpool and the Justice for the 96 campaign, whose quest for the truth has today been realised.

 

“You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

 

The jury found they did not contribute to the danger unfolding at the turnstiles at the Leppings Lane end of Sheffield Wednesday's ground on 15 April 1989.

 

Nine jurors reached unanimous decisions on all but one of the 14 questions at the inquests into Britain's worst sporting disaster.

 

Absolute class from Celtic.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

I see C4 News nabbed MacKenzie coming out of a supermarket.

 

He condemned the police and congratulated the families and claimed that "in a funny way" he was a victim of the police's cover up too.

 

The brass balls on this cunt. Horrible specimen.

[Arl arse]

I see C4 News nabbed MacKenzie coming out of a supermarket.

He condemned the police and congratulated the families and claimed that "in a funny way" he was a victim of the police's cover up too.

The brass balls on this cunt. Horrible specimen.

Saw that, gobsmacked at the arrogance of him portraying himself as a victim and congratulating the families he so viciously twisted the knife into when they where at their lowest point.

 

Scum will always be scum.