"witness theThe Battle of the Beanfield"
"this brutal police action simply proved the force was now not the protector of the people, but an enemy."

Actually, I think what in particular this horrendous and actively repressed incident demonstrated was how legitimised uniformed violence meted out upon apon the inoccent could so easily occur, where the group/s in question had already been 'dehumanised' in the eyes of the 'common man' by propaganda...

And I think this incident along with that of the miners strike, demonstrate the effectiveness of propaganda designed to 'alienate' a group, diminish their humanity and distinguish them as 'other'.

Think in the context of the rampantly Capitalist ethos of Thatchers Britian, how easy it was for media propaganda to effectively publicly legitimise and gain the 'common mans' acceptance of and even emotional collusion in, the violent and oppressive actions of 'the authorities' against groups who they did not identify as being a part of their increasingly aggresively Capitalist world.

Miners = 'commies'
Travellers = 'bums'

Both groups were 'other'. And as such these incidents are akin in some ways, and pertinant to some of the issues this thread raises, in relation to propagandist tactics (conscious or instinctual) of 'dehumanising' and alienating of groups (such as black people) which we see evidence of in the continued public acceptance of racial stereotyping, in both popular image and language.

Which brings us back to the OP.