A shocking video posted on Facebook appears to show a Muslim man being slapped and kicked by Greater Manchester Police officers and Manchester Airport security personnel.
The footage, filmed on a mobile phone at Manchester Airport on Thursday, shows a man of Asian heritage with a thick black beard being restrained on the floor by a female police officer as three members of airport security assist her.
Towards the end of the video, heated words are exchanged and the police officer appears to slap the man before one of the security personnel kicks the victim in the face.
**Link to video at bottom of article**
Wassi Hashmi, 40, who filmed the video, said: “I didn’t sleep last night. I was really quite scared by it all. The way they treated him was horrendous.”
Speaking to MM, Mr Hashmi, who was at the airport to wave off his girlfriend, an activist flying to Palestine, described the events leading up to the video.
He said: “I saw the policewoman say something to the man, and he was about ten yards in front of her. He turned around and said something back, but I was on the top level so I couldn’t really hear.
“The policewoman then ran after him, at which point I took my phone out and headed down the escalator, and I saw her and the two security guards tackle him.”
Manchester airport today at 1135 on the 4th of June, 2015.Coppers violently attacking an innocent guy with a black beard. He was carrying 2 Morissons bags and a female copper starting harassing him, then with two airport security guys took him down violently. She slapped the guy in his face as well.Being black & brown, Muslim looking is a crime inthe UK.
Posted by Wassi Hashmi on Thursday, 4 June 2015
After around 20 seconds, the man becomes agitated and the officer seems to slap him once. One of the security guards then appears to swing back his leg and deliver a kick to the man’s face, before the footage abruptly ends.
Mr Hashmi claims that he was approached by several police officers who demanded that he stop filming, before assisting their colleague in arresting the man and taking him to a police van in a similarly aggressive fashion.
Mr Hashmi, who is of Pakistani origin, has previously lived in Manchester but recently relocated to Newport. He said he felt under scrutiny while waiting for his girlfriend to check in.
“The only place with security at the time was the check-in desk for the flight to Tel-Aviv. I was waiting for my girlfriend to check in for around half an hour, and two police officers kept walking around me. I was quite disturbed by this but they didn’t say anything to me.
“Then this happened, and it really shook me quite a lot, because I could see what the problem was. The guy had a beard and a dark complexion. I don’t know what happened before that, but the level of violence, the slapping and the kicking, was really scary.
“There is no call for such violence, especially kicking somebody who is already on the floor. The most worrying thing is that it could have been me, it could have been anyone. ”
A statement from Greater Manchester Police said that the man, who they named as Iqbal Manjothi, 28, from Bradford, had been charged with a public order offence and police assault, and appeared before Trafford magistrates on Friday June 5.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Trafford Magistrates again on June 10.
A police statement said: “On Thursday 4 June 2015, police received a report a man was acting in an aggressive manner in Terminal Two of Manchester Airport.
“The incident has been referred to GMP’s Professional Standards Branch.”
Manchester Airport was not able to comment on the incident on the basis that it was a police matter.
To watch the video in Wassi Hasmi’s Facebook post click here.
Image courtesy of Wassi Hashmi via Facebook, with thanks.
