A new police oversight report confirms decades of police culpability and an extensive cover-up in the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster, validating the long struggle of victims’ families against official narratives. The report, released Tuesday, found police guilty of “complacency, negligence, and concerted effort” in the tragedy that killed 97 people.
It states that officers in subsequent investigations “showed bias” by tampering with evidence and presenting misleading conclusions. This led families to describe the original process as a “police cover-up attempt.”
The oversight body identified 12 officers, many high-ranking, who should have faced serious misconduct charges for their failures at the stadium that day.
A quote from the report emphasized the enduring pain: “What they [victims’ families] had to endure for over 36 years is a cause for national shame.”
The Hillsborough disaster occurred on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. It happened during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
The incident led to the crushing deaths of 95 Liverpool fans, with two more dying in the following years, bringing the total fatalities to 97. Additionally, 766 people were injured.
More than 2,000 Liverpool fans were allowed into an already crowded standing area behind a goal. The opening of some gates to relieve the flow of fans then resulted in a fatal crush.
Immediately after the disaster, police cultivated a false narrative blaming unruly, alcoholic, and ticketless Liverpool fans. This claim has now been officially disproven by the new report.
Original inquiries returned accidental death verdicts, which the victims’ families steadfastly refused to accept. These verdicts were overturned in 2012 following a comprehensive investigation that reviewed previously secret documents and exposed police irregularities.
Despite the report’s findings, none of the 12 identified officers will face disciplinary action. All are either retired or have died. No police officer was ever convicted of any crime related to the disaster, nor did any face disciplinary action while still in service.