An armed British police officer has been filmed kicking a man in the head as he lay on the ground in an incident that has been denounced as an example of police brutality.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that the attack on the man took place at Manchester Airport on Tuesday.
In a video widely shared online, armed police can be seen pointing Tasers at a man lying on the ground, before one officer begins kicking and then stamping the man in the head.
An older woman attempts to protect the man, who continues to remain on the ground, as none of the other officers attempt to help the man or reprimand the officer.
Instead, the other officers point their Tasers at a crowd of outraged onlookers shouting at them to stop. Another man with his hands on his head is then kicked and punched by the same police officer as he appears to follow instructions to also get on the ground. The two men attacked are Muslims of South Asian descent.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Greater Manchester Police said that the incident had taken place after three officers were assaulted during an arrest.
“One female officer suffered a broken nose and the other officers were forced to the ground and suffered injuries which required hospital treatment,” a statement from Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said.
It acknowledged that the event was “truly shocking” and an “unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm”, but did not reprimand the officer for his conduct.
Having initially said on Wednesday that a police officer had been “removed from operational duties”, on Thursday Greater Manchester Police confirmed that the officer had been suspended “following a thorough review of further information that has become available”.
Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham said on Thursday that he believed there had been an incident on a flight involving the mother of the two individuals attacked by the police officer, who were waiting at the airport for her.
“[The mother] pointed somebody out and there was an altercation in the arrivals hall,” Burnham said, before explaining that the men were followed on camera before the attack took place.
One eyewitness, Amir Minhas, told the BBC that a man in his 20s had been approached by police and told that he was wanted, before he was pinned against a wall. Another man then began throwing punches before being tasered and falling to the floor. “That’s when the policeman kicked him,” Minhas said.
‘Not Tel Aviv’
The incident has been met with disbelief from many quarters, with the United Kingdom’s minister in charge of policing, Diana Johnson, requesting a “full update from Greater Manchester Police”.
Others have used stronger language. British trade unionist Howard Beckett described the attack as “the most brutal of police assaults on two men”.
“Not in Tel Aviv. In Manchester Airport,” he wrote on social media, before adding that it was “thuggery in uniforms”.
Claudia Webbe, a former member of Parliament, described the attack as “a gang of serving police officers engaged in brutal violence”.
“They call this policing by consent, building trust and confidence,” she added. “The victims are Muslim. Our silence guarantees police impunity. We cannot be silent or silenced.”
The former chief superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, Dal Babu, said that he believed racism played a part in the incident.
On Wednesday night, locals gathered outside a police station in Rochdale, where local MP Paul Waugh confirmed at least one of the men lived, and chanted “GMP [Greater Manchester Police], shame on you”.
Demonstrators have also planned a protest against the attack on Thursday outside the office of Mayor Burnham, denouncing the police as “racist”.
