‘People rushed to judgement’, says mayor as new vid shows cops at Manchester Airport being punched & put in chokehold
MANCHESTER’S Mayor has slammed people for rushing to “unequivocal judgement” after watching footage of the Manchester airport incident which saw a cop kick a young man in the head.
Andy Burnham’s comments come after new footage of the violent exchange surfaced last night, showing the same officers being punched with one put into an aggressive chokehold.
Burnham, speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, urged politicians not to contribute to the “impact on public order” caused by such judgements, which he warned can have negative consequences.
The Manchester mayor previously told the BBC the situation is “not clear cut” and insisted there are “two sides” to the story.
The first video, filmed at Manchester airport on Tuesday 23 and shared on Wednesday, captured a male cop stamping on Fahir’s head.
It quickly went viral and sparked outrage without any context of the moments leading up to the teen’s violent arrest.
Several nights of protest in Rochdale followed, with at least 100 people swarming outside the local police station in on Thursday night.
Burnham said today: “This is a phenomenon of our time that video will emerge, from whichever source, but it will go out there and everyone then becomes an expert on it and says ‘I know exactly what happened’ and makes an unequivocal judgement.
“But life isn’t like that, the risk is you get consequences from those judgements and that can impact in communities, it can have an impact on public order.
“The thing I would say is, politicians really shouldn’t be part of that rush to judgement.”
The mayor’s comments came after new footage revealed by MEN on Saturday evening showed several men assaulting the same police officers captured in the original clip.
It appears to show brothers Amaad, 25, and Mohammed Fahir Khan, 19, the same man whose head is stamped on by a male police officer in the first video.
On the left, a man thought to be Amaad wearing a dark grey top repeatedly punches a male police officer as he falls back in a chair and has to pull out his taser to get away.
Meanwhile on the right, a man dressed in blue believed to be Fahir, hits a female cop in the face several times until she falls to the ground.
GMP said one of the two female police officers at the scene that day suffered a broken nose during a violent assault.
There are fears the officers in question, who have been subjected to intense backlash online, may have to go into hiding according to one police source.
The force said on Wednesday evening that people are “rightly extremely concerned” over the clip and that a male officer involved had been removed from duty.
Roads and tram lines in the city centre were blocked as a result of the unrest that followed the first video.
Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale borough council, told The Guardian: “Definitely at some points there was a concern that the tensions might boil over – there’s no hiding from that.”
Burnham added on Sunday morning that “people in positions of responsibility”, have been “adding to the clamour and hype around an incident”.
“These situations can be dangerous, people’s careers are on the line in these situations,” he said.
“I think we all feel for the police officers who were injured as a result of what happened, there’s a whole lot of stuff comes together and there’s a lot that we can learn from this.”
Fahir’s family also called for calm in the days following his arrest.
Their lawyer told BBC Radio 4: “The family also wanted me to make crystal clear [that] they’ve got no political agenda.
“They do not condone political violence and they do not want to take part in any protests.
“And they wanted me to appeal for calm on their behalf. And I hope that appeal is heeded not just in Rochdale, but in Manchester as well.”
Fahir has a cyst on his brain with symptoms “worsening overnight”, his family lawyer revealed on Thursday.
So-called ‘social media lawyer’ Akhmed Yakoob, who is representing the brothers, spoke out today and said “nothing can justify a kick to the head”.
Yakoob said: “After reviewing the CCTV footage from Manchester Airport, nothing can justify a kick to the head to a defenceless man and a stomp to the head.
“Those are my views. These officers are highly trained, they shouldn’t be losing control or seeing red.”
It comes after a police source told Mail on Sunday the cop who kicked Fahir in the head lost control over fears his firearms could be snatched.
They said: “You can’t have people attacking, choking a police officer, who has got a firearm on his side.
“If that had been a French or an Italian airport, the police officers would possibly have shot them dead.”
GMP explained more about the video in a statement last week, writing: “In advance of what is shown in the footage available, we were called to reports of an assault at Terminal 2, Manchester Airport at 8.25pm on Tuesday 23 July.
“The alleged suspect was seen on CCTV at a ticket machine in the car park and officers attended the location to arrest him.”
“During our response, three officers were assaulted,” they told the public.
The statement read: “One female officer suffered a broken nose and the other officers were forced to the ground and suffered injuries which required hospital treatment.”
Timeline of events leading up to disturbing video
VIDEO of a cop appearing to kick a 19-year-old in the face before stamping on his head has led to unrest on the streets of Manchester.
The disturbing footage was captured at Manchester Airport on Tuesday – forcing GMP to suspend an officer and refer themselves to police watchdog IOPC.
According to a source close to the teen’s family, this is what happened in the run-up to the shocking scenes which have since gone viral.
- Fahir and Amaad’s mum were allegedly involved in an altercation with a man on her flight from Pakistan to Manchester
- Once the plane had landed, the same man then rammed the mum with a luggage trolley, it is claimed
- He is also said to have then hurled racist remarks at her while she waited for her suitcases at Terminal 2
- The elderly mother met up with her two sons, Fahir and Amaad, who she pointed out the man to, it is said
- The pair are then said to have confronted him – which turned into a physical altercation
- Greater Manchester Police were then called to the airport where they are understood to have met Fahir, Amaad and their mum by ticket machines
- Police say three officers were attacked, including a female PC who suffered a broken nose, when they were “punched to the ground”
- Fahir is then thought to have been put on the floor where he was kicked and stamped on
- Footage also reportedly shows the same cop use PAVA spray (similar to pepper spray)
- Fahir and his brother are then hauled away
The family source also alleged that the mum was struck in the face by an officer – but this has not been independently verified.
