Liverpool feels vindicated after stadium verdict

LONDON — The northern English city of Liverpool remembered the 96 soccer fans who were crushed to death in a crowded stadium in 1989, honoring each one by name yesterday as Britain faced a moment of soul-searching on how it responded to the tragedy.

Banners reading "Truth" and "Justice" were hung from the neo-classical columns of St George's Hall in central Liverpool, just above 96 lanterns marking each life lost. Tens of thousands thundered the Liverpool Football Club anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone," and held red team scarves above their heads. Many wept.

On Tuesday, a jury found that police and emergency services were to blame for the April 15, 1989, disaster at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, exonerating the crowd and saying it didn't contribute to the tragedy.

Families and supporters praised the tenacity of a city that fought alongside them, demanding answers after authorities blamed the victims for the tragedy for 27 years. The crowd chanted "justice for the 96," echoing a refrain that those responsible should be punished.

"We never gave up hope," Sheila Coleman, spokeswoman for the Hillsborough Justice Campaign, told the crowd. "They did pick on the wrong city."

Pressure is building to bring criminal charges for the blunders by police and the cover-up that prevented the families of the victims from learning the truth for so long. Prosecutors may take a year to consider the matter.

By late yesterday, at least one public official had been suspended in light of the inquest's findings __ David Crompton, chief constable of South Yorkshire Police. Alan Billings, South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, said he had been "left with no choice" but to suspend Crompton "based on the erosion of public trust and confidence" in the force.

Crompton's position was "untenable" because he allowed officers to once again blame fans during the second inquest, prolonging the agony of the families, Andy Burnham, a lawmaker from the area told Parliament on yesterday.

The original inquest in 1991 recorded verdicts of accidental death. Those verdicts were overturned in 2012 after a far-reaching inquiry examined previously secret documents and exposed wrongdoing and mistakes by police.

At the heart of the issue is the fact that fans were blamed for the crush that caused so many deaths. Though hooliganism was a big part of English soccer throughout the 1980s, a false narrative that blamed drunken, ticketless and rowdy Liverpool fans was created by police and spread by a lawmaker in Sheffield.

Reaction to the verdicts was swift — particularly after the jury found in favor of the families on every point. Burnham described the verdicts as a "watershed" for how victims are treated.

"What kind of country leaves people, who did no more than wave off their loved ones, still sitting in a courtroom 27 years later, begging for the reputations of their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and fathers?" he told the House of Commons. "The answer is one that needs now to do some deep soul-searching."

Home Secretary Theresa May told a quiet House of Commons that the case "raises significant issues for the way that the state and its agencies deal with disasters." She praised the resolve of the families who fought for the truth.

"To have stood ... for so long shows a steel and determination, but also an affection for their lost loved ones and passionate desire for justice on behalf of those who died," she said. "That is, as I said, extraordinary and I think we will rarely see the like again."

The stain went beyond the immediate families affected. The Liverpool Echo's front page yesterday featured the bold words "Angels and Demons," describing the coroner's verdict as a vindication for the city, which went from being known as the home of the Beatles to being overshadowed by the allegations.

"Heroes fought for justice, and at last a city is vindicated," a headline said. "Now, the pressure mounts on the cowards and the liars."

Alastair Machray, who edits the Echo, told the BBC the verdicts are only the beginning. The victims still want accountability.

"The truth is out, but truth alone is not justice, is it?" he said.