UK POLICE OFFICER SUSPENDED AFTER VIRAL VIDEO OF VIOLENT ARREST SURFACES

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Agency Report

Following the appearance of an online video showing an officer stomping and stamping a man’s head during an arrest, a UK police officer was suspended on Thursday.

After examining the events at Manchester Airport on Tuesday, Greater Manchester Police in northwest England announced that one of its officers had been “suspended from all duties.”

The video has gone viral on the internet and incited anger among the populace.

The watchdog group Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced that it was conducting an independent investigation into the suspended police officer’s “level of force.”

“We appreciate the footage which was shared on social media has attracted widespread shock and concern,” the IOPC said in its statement.

Following reports of an incident, Greater Manchester Police stated in a prior statement that three officers were assaulted, with one female officer “suffering a broken nose” and needing medical attention, and that they apprehended a suspect at the airport.

After the cops were attacked, footage of the policeman employing force against the individual who was being apprehended was captured, the force claimed.

It seemed to depict a policeman standing close to a woman, stomping and stamping on the man’s head as he lay on the ground.

Police claim that the “use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm,” although it is unclear what exactly happened before and after the video.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told the BBC after seeing the full footage leading up to the circulated clip that it was “not a clearcut situation” and that while the clip was “disturbing”, there were issues “on both sides”.

Burnham said there was an “altercation in the arrivals hall” before the filmed incident, which took place in the car park of the airport.

“So there had been already a serious incident before that. What people don’t see in the clip is that there is a situation which escalates and escalates very quickly”, Burnham added, calling for “calm”.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he understands the “concern” over the video, while multiple MPs called the footage “disturbing”.

In Tuesday night’s incident, police arrested two men on suspicion of assault and assault of an emergency worker among other counts.

Two other men were arrested suspected of affray and assault of an emergency worker.

AFP