Fears ‘tensions could boil over’ as new clip of Manchester airport incident emerges with mayor saying there’s two sides
FEARS are rising that tensions in Manchester could explode after new footage surfaced of the airport fight that saw a cop kick a young man in the head.
It comes as Andy Burnham, Manchester mayor, has insisted there are “two sides” to the “complicated” situation.
The original footage, filmed at Manchester airport on Tuesday last week, captured a policeman stamping on the head of 19-year-old Mohammed Fahir.
It quickly went viral and sparked outrage without any context of the moments leading up to the teen’s violent arrest.
On Saturday evening new video surfaced of a brutal assault on the three police officers captured in the first clip.
It showed a man punching one of the officers repeatedly as he slumps back into a chair, while another hits a female cop in the face until she falls to the ground.
At the beginning of the video a group of people can be seen milling around a ticket machine in Terminal 2, as three cops including two women and a man head towards them.
One of the officers goes to grab the hands of a man who is facing the ticket machine to restrain him, in video obtained by MEN.
It appears to be Fahir, the same man whose head is stamped on by a male police officer in the original clip.
As he resists the three police try to gain control of the situation, which is when a second man gets involved and lunges for the male cop.
This man, in a grey t-shirt, can be seen hitting the male cop in the face a whopping six times before the officer tasers him and is able to back away.
Around the same time the man who appears to be Fahir seems to hit a female officer in the face repeatedly until she falls to the ground.
Chaos erupts in the airport terminal as the three officers struggle to fend off the group from all sides.
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, but not suspended.
While the new footage this evening may have shed more light on what happened at the airport, there remain unanswered questions about the incident.
At least 100 people swarmed outside Rochdale police station in protest on Thursday night after watching the footage online.
Roads and tram lines in the city centre were blocked as a result of the unrest.
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.”
And Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told MEN that he is asking people “not to rush to judgement” over the violent videos.
“This is a complicated situation with two sides to it. It is why I urged people not to rush to judgement,” he said.
Burnham previously told BBC Radio 4 the situation is “not clear cut” after outbursts followed the video online.
He said: “Last night I’d seen the partial footage like everybody.
“And my reaction was similar to most people’s in communities.
“What I’ve had the chance to do since is look at the whole incident and what I would say is it’s not a clear cut situation. It’s a fast moving situation that escalates.”
He added: “These are disturbing images and the right action has been taken by Greater Manchester Police. Which is to refer the matter to the IOPC and suspend the officer concerned.”
Fahir’s family have also called for calm following days of unrest in Manchester, as people swarmed Rochdale police station in protest.
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.”
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 was 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.