Manchester Airport kicking video triggers protests

LONDON: A crowd of people has protested outside a police station in Greater Manchester, amid anger over a policeman filmed kicking a man in the head at the city’s airport.

Chanting “shame on you”, the protesters in Rochdale accused the police of institutional racism, footage from the protest online appears to show.

The force has referred itself for investigation and removed one officer from operational duties following the kicking video.

The video, filmed at Manchester Airport on Tuesday evening, shows a male police officer holding a Taser over a man, who is lying face down on the floor.

The officer then appears to stamp on and kick the man in the head, while other officers shout at onlookers to stay back.

At the protest on Wednesday evening, a crowd of what appeared to be several hundred people gathered outside a police station in Rochdale. The Manchester Evening News reported that one of the protesters had told the crowd they were “no longer going to settle” for “police brutality”.

GMP said its officers had been called to Terminal 2 of the airport at 20:25 BST on Tuesday following reports of a fight.

It said while trying to arrest a suspect, three of its officers were violently attacked and punched to the ground.

One officer suffered a broken nose and all three needed hospital treatment. Four men were arrested at the scene for affray and assault on emergency service workers.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, described the video as “disturbing” and said he recognised “the widespread and deep concern” it had caused. He said he had raised his concerns with GMP’s deputy chief constable.