The officer then approaches another man, who is sitting in a chair with his hands behind his head, and appears to tell him to get on the ground, after which the officer steps on the man’s thigh and strikes him in the head.
The incident sparked shock and outrage in England, where police officers are routinely unarmed and are required to use force only when necessary. Various police forces have faced accusations of racism, and previous allegations of police brutality have sparked protests and riots that have swept across the country.
Greater Manchester Police said the male officer, who has not been named, has been suspended and removed from all duties and the incident has been reported to the independent police complaints watchdog.
The watchdog group said Friday that the officers are under investigation for alleged criminal assault.
Deputy Chief Commissioner Wasim Choudhury, of Greater Manchester Police, said in an earlier statement: “We are aware that the footage of the incident at Manchester Airport has been widely circulated and shows truly shocking events. We understand that the use of this level of force during an arrest is unusual and disturbing.”
Chowdhury said police had been responding to “reports of assault” at the airport even before the footage was released. “During our response, three officers were assaulted. One female officer had her nose broken and another officer… suffered injuries requiring treatment in hospital,” he said, adding that four men had been arrested on suspicion of assault or obstructing police.
Local media reported that hundreds of protesters took part in demonstrations in the area this week, some calling for the disbanding of the police force and some carrying anti-racism banners.
Rochdale MP Paul Waugh said in a statement that he had spoken to the families of those involved, all of whom are members of his constituency, and that “it is clear they have been deeply traumatised by the incident”. Mr Waugh said the families, whom he did not want to name, had asked for privacy.
Waugh called for accountability, said police officers were not “above the law”, and stressed that his family had told him to “appeal to remain calm” and stressed that he “has no political agenda and does not want to take part in any protests”.
“We clearly have deep concerns about this incident but it is vital that we do not allow any extremists to hijack this event for their own purposes,” he added, noting that some members of his family serve in the police force. He also expressed concern for the female police officer who was injured.
The family’s lawyer, Ahmed Yaqoob, called the incident “police brutality” and called for “justice”. He told reporters the family was “traumatized” and that scans had revealed one of the men had a cyst on his brain.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham described the footage as “disgusting” and said it was right that the officers involved were suspended, but he warned the incident was “not a clean slate”, said he had seen evidence of “the full extent of the escalation” and called for calm, saying there were “problems on both sides”.
Incidents of police use of force have been controversial in the past, most notably in 2011 when a black man, Mark Duggan, was shot dead in London, sparking riots described as the worst civil unrest in Britain for a generation. The clashes began in London but spread to several other cities, including Manchester.
In 2020, protests erupted in the UK in solidarity with the US protests following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Greater Manchester Police has been the subject of reports and allegations of racism: a 2021 report found that Greater Manchester Police arrested, tasered and searched black people more than white people, while equality advisers said in 2023 that the force was still “perpetuating racism”.
Elsewhere in the country, an official inquiry last year found evidence of racism, misogyny and homophobia in the Metropolitan police and recommended sweeping reforms to the force to address deep-rooted problems. The Metropolitan police commissioned the inquiry after its officers admitted in 2021 to abducting, raping and murdering Sarah Everard, a woman walking home.
