Disturbing video shows a British police officer kicking and stomping on a man’s head at Manchester Airport on Tuesday night, sparking protests and allegations of police brutality.
The man can be seen lying motionless on the ground when the uniformed officer, who is holding a taser, suddenly kicks him in the side of the head while other officers yell at witnesses to stay back, video shows.
He then stomps his boots on the back of the man’s head and slams his knee into his back as he sits on top of him, as onlookers scream in shock.
“Oh sh–t!” one spectator yells. A woman in a hijab rushes over to help, the clip shows.
Then, police are seen kicking another man, who had been sitting on a bench nearby as he holds his hands over his head. Both men appeared to be handcuffed and taken into custody.
Manchester Police (GMP) told the BBC the firearms officers filmed were attacked while attempting to arrest someone after a fight broke out in the airport’s Terminal 2 around 8:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday.
Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said his department is aware “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.
“The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm,” he said.
One officer has been removed from duties as the case is referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) for review for further action.
The incident sparked protests Wednesday night, with hundreds descending on a police station in Rochdale in Great Manchester after the footage was widely circulated online.
“We’re no longer going to settle for this police brutality. We put our trust in the police and what do they do instead they inflict violence upon us when we surrender to them. This is supposed to be the police, instead they are gangsters in uniforms,” one protester told the crowd, The Manchester Evening News reported.
According to police, they were alerted to a fight at the airport and when they responded three officers were “punched to the ground” in a “violent assault” when they attempted to arrest one of the suspects, a police spokesman told The BBC.
“As the attending officers were firearms officers, there was a clear risk during this assault of their firearms being taken from them,” the spokesperson added.
Three officers were hospitalized with injuries, including a female cop with a broken nose.
Two men were arrested on suspicion of assault, assault on an emergency worker, affray, and obstructing police.
Another two other men were additionally arrested on suspicion of affray and assault on an emergency worker, police said.
Witness Amar Minhas, of Leeds, told the BBC he was walking through arrivals when he saw the chaotic scene unfold.
Officers approached one of the men, who appeared to be in his early 20s, and “pinned him up against the wall.”
Another man then “started on the police” and a fight broke out, Minhas said. The man who was pinned against the wall began throwing punches and was tasered by police and fell to the ground.
“That’s when the policeman kicked him,” he said.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, called the video “disturbing” and said he understands “the widespread and deep concern” it’s caused.
