Police officers captured on video shoving a fan to the ground after Manchester United's quarter final victory over Charlton at Old Trafford on Tuesday acted correctly, a senior officer has said.
The Professional Standards Branch of Greater Manchester Police launched an investigation after footage was widely shared on social media which showed an officer shoving a fan to the ground, leaving him motionless and face down.
After viewing the footage in conjunction with police body-cam footage, a senior officer has concluded 'there is no indication that the actions of the officers amount to misconduct'.
The clip shows officers approaching a group of away fans in the car park moments after Tuesday night's match. One cop is seen to shove one of the fans, who falls to the ground and remains motionless face down on the ground.
A voice is heard to say 'he's out cold'.
Three officers are then seen marching a second fan away, who is bent over and appears to have his arms behind his back. As he is being led away, he collapses to the ground.
By Thursday morning, the clip had been shared widely and had been viewed 265,000 times. It was posted on Twitter by an account holder who said the police actions were 'disgusting', and directed the post to GMP.
In the clip the man, believed to be a Charlton supporter, approaches three cops who are leading away another person in handcuffs in the stadium’s car park.
And after one of the officers pushes the man away, he then gives him a much stronger shove, leading him to fall to the ground.
The man who filmed the clip, who asked not to be named, said the incident came 'out of the blue' as Charlton fans were boarding their coaches to head home.
He said: “It was out of the blue. All Charlton fans were behaving well, a few small disturbances as you get at a football match. But the fella who got pushed by the police officer wasn’t really doing anything to deserve that force used on him."
He said police left the man on the floor.
Superintendent of Operations, Danny O’Neill, said: "GMP have been made aware of a video circulating on social media of actions taken by our officers during the MUFC vs Charlton fixture on the evening of Tuesday 10 January 2023.
"After being made aware of this video, our Professional Standards Branch have reviewed it along with the body worn footage from officers in the vicinity, which provides much wider context to the incident.
"On review of all the footage we are satisfied that there is no indication that the actions of the officers amount to misconduct.
"All of our officers are highly trained and are committed to ensuring the safety of members of the public when undergoing their daily, allocated duties."
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