LONDON – 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. 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. 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.” (CNN)…[+]