Officer suspended after videos of police beating men at UK airport spark outcry over racism

CNN

By Maija Ehlinger, Lex Harvey, Jerome Taylor, Ivana Kottasová and Lauren Kent, CNN

(CNN) — A British policeman has been suspended after multiple videos emerged on social media showing officers beating at least three people inside Manchester Airport in an incident the city’s own force has labeled “truly shocking.”

The viral videos, in which one officer could be seen kicking and stomping on the head of a man in prone position, are the latest to spark a public and political argument in Britain over whether violence used by police was proportionate or justified.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the footage on social media showed a confrontation that began after three officers were injured in a “violent assault,” including one female officer who suffered a broken nose.

But the force added that the event seen in the videos was “truly shocking” and an “unusual occurrence,” adding it had voluntarily referred itself to Britain’s independent police watchdog for a full investigation. CNN has reached out to the Independent Office for Police Conduct for comment.

The police said on Wednesday that the officer seen in the video was removed from operational duties. On Thursday, it announced that “following a thorough review of further information that has become available” it has suspended the officer from all duties.

The videos began circulating Wednesday, quickly going viral on social media and sparking an outcry from both the public and some politicians.

One video shows a man on the ground with at least two police officers pointing a taser at him. A male police officer moves closer to the man and starts kicking him in the face, while his taser is still drawn, before stomping on his head.

Later in the same video, another man, whose hands were in the air while sitting nearby, is taken to the ground after a police officer points a taser at him. After the second man kneels on the ground, one officer starts kicking him before another wrestles him to the ground and appears to try to constrain his hands behind his back.

The video appears to show the attacks taking place on the ground level of the airport outside of several elevators.

Another video shows a man in a gray T-shirt being confronted, pepper-sprayed in the face, and brought to the ground by a police officer who wrapped his arm around the man’s neck as he wrestled him down.

CNN cannot independently verify the events leading up to or directly after the violence captured on video.

The condition of the men following the confrontation is unclear.

‘Disturbing footage’

The events captured in the videos sparked protests outside the GMP divisional headquarters in the town of Rochdale on Wednesday evening. Videos from the scene showed large crowds gathering outside the police station, shouting “GMP shame on you.”

On Thursday morning, GMP Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said the protest had concluded safely without any incidents.

“We understand the immense feeling of concern and worry that people feel about our response and fully respect their right to demonstrate their views peacefully,” Chaudhry said.

In its statement released on X, the police outlined what it said were the events that led up to the videos.

The incident started when police were called to Terminal 2 of the airport on Tuesday evening following reports of an assault. When officers confronted the male suspect, three officers were injured in a “violent assault, where they were punched to the ground,” with one female officer ending up with a broken nose, the force said.

Four men have been arrested for assaulting an emergency worker, the statement added.

“We know that a film of an incident at Manchester Airport that is circulating widely shows an event that is truly shocking, and that people are rightly extremely concerned about,” Chaudhry said in the statement.

“The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm.”

Multiple British politicians condemned the assaults shown in the videos. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, called the videos “disturbing” in a post on X.

Paul Waugh, the local MP for Rochdale, said in a post on X he is “extremely concerned” by the “appalling” footage from Manchester Airport, noting he has expressed his concerns to police.

The man who was arrested is a Rochdale resident, Waugh said, adding in a later post that he has spoken to the man’s family and will meet them Friday.

UK Home Office Minister Diana Johnson said on X that she was “aware of the disturbing footage” and “understand(s) the public concern it has prompted.”

But not all lawmakers condemned the police actions.

Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and one of five recently elected MPs for the right-wing populist party, said in a television interview that seeing the video was “not distressing” but rather “reassuring” that police officers were responding to a “serious issue” if they were using such force.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Jessie Gretener, Sharon Brathwaite and Dan Wright in London contributed to this report.