The scenario surrounding a video of a police officer punching and hitting a man in the head is “fast and complicated” and is “clear”, Manchester’s mayor has said.
Read the latest: A circle of relatives “traumatized” by the images
Andy Burnham also called for calm from the protesters who gathered in the city center on Thursday.
Footage filmed at Manchester Airport on Tuesday night appeared to show a man being kicked in the head and stamped on as he lay on the ground.
An officer was later shown to have been suspended in connection with the incident.
The mayor’s comments come amid a day of protests against the registry.
Burnham told local radio station BBC that he had seen full footage of the incident and that the scenario was “unclear”.
And he added: “I would ask for calm because what I can guarantee to others is that the correct and fair measures have been taken in the right way.
“There are for both sides, but having said that, it is true that the official has been suspended. “
The guy “has a cyst on his brain”, to a lawyer
The man who kicked and stomped on a police officer in the head suffers from a brain cyst, the family’s lawyer said Thursday.
Akhmed Yakoob made the comment at an open-air Rochdale police station, a day after footage of the incident at Manchester Airport was widely shared on social media.
He said the man, named Fahir through the lawyer, had a cyst on his brain after a scan carried out after the incident.
Yakoob, who also represents Fahir’s brother Amaad and his elderly mother, added that Fahir’s condition had worsened overnight and said he was “fighting for his life. “
All three claim to have been assaulted by at least one Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer at the airport on Tuesday night.
Yakoob later said the family was “traumatised” and that Fahir’s older brother worked as a police officer for Greater Manchester Police and was now “afraid to work”.
He added, “He came in today and talked to his supervisor, and the only reason he’s not going to work is because he fears for his own safety. “
“Nothing justifies barbaric treatment”
This comes after GMP showed an officer had been suspended over footage that appeared to show a suspect being kicked in the head and stamped on while lying on the ground.
The footage, filmed at Manchester Airport on Tuesday night, sparked outrage after being widely shared on social media.
The officer then filmed pepper-spraying another man before throwing him to the ground.
On Thursday night, a rally and march was held in central Manchester following the events at the airport.
A few hundred protesters gathered outside Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham’s workplace at a Stand Up Against Racism rally, chanting slogans such as “No justice, no peace, no racist policing. “
They then marched through the city before the speeches took place.
GMP said in a previous article that it understands the “immense sense of fear and dread that other people feel” after the original footage was published.
The force added that officials had responded to reports of an attack at the airport before the footage was filmed.
Yakoob said he was unaware of what had happened before the incident, but said there is “no justification for the barbaric remedy imposed by the police. “
Dal Babu, former lead superintendent of the Metropolitan Police, told Sky News he believed the point of force used across the officer in the video “was reasonable”.
“The most moderate thing to do at this point would be to handcuff (Fahir), but the officer kicked him in the face,” he said.
“An absolutely disproportionate amount of force was used. “
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“Totally independent” IOPC probe
Manchester Mayor Burnham had earlier said that he and his deputy “have now had the opportunity to meet with the Home Secretary and the Regional Director” of the IOPC Fund.
“It was agreed that the IOPC Fund’s ongoing investigation would be carried out as temporarily as possible, would involve network actors and would, in fact, be independent,” he added.
“I hope this will further reassure other people that all the right steps are being taken, that all applicable issues will be fully considered, and give other people confidence in the procedure as it moves forward. “
The IOPC Fund had a “significant amount” of body camera footage.
A added: “We met today with members of the first man’s family, some of whom were provided during the incident, to explain our role and address their concerns. We will keep them informed as our investigation continues. “
This came after around two hundred protesters gathered outside Rochdale police station on Wednesday night, with some shouting “GMP, shame on you!”
According to police, the protest ended “without incident. “