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27 November 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:06am

Was this a mounted police charge on Whitehall? You decide

"Anybody who knows anything about equestrian activities will see perhaps a trot followed by walking

By Jon Bernstein

A YouTube video appearing to show police on horseback charging at a group of student protesters surfaced on YouTube yesterday. The footage from Wednesday’s protest has since been viewed nearly 100,000 times.

On Radio 4’s Today programme this morning Meredydd Hughes, Chief Constable of South Yorkshire defended the action of the police. He told John Humphrys:

I can’t comment on the operation itself, except to say I would urge people to see [the video] for themselves and judge the comment about charging into the crowd. And anybody who knows anything about equestrian activities will see perhaps a trot followed by walking horses.

Well, you can judge for yourself. The pertinent part of the footage below begins at around 1 min 10 seconds:

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