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Just witnessed 28 police officers, 4 of them pinning down one clearly distressed black man on Mare Street in Hackney while he repeatedly shouted that he was in pain
The situation was only resolved when a passer by intervened, calmed down the man, let him know his rights in terms of requesting a lawyer before saying anything and completely de-escalated the whole thing
If he hadn’t shown up the police were making no attempts to calm him down, talk to him or resolve what was going on - if he wasn’t there he’d still be pinned down now screaming in pain
I questioned the officers after he had been taken away on why it required a passer by to calm down the situation and why they had made no efforts to resolve the situation peacefully before his arrival
Their response was that they had been told to scale up their response to call outs because of the current protests in the US
When I asked them why it took a random passer by to solve things peacefully and why they made no efforts themselves they had nothing to say and left the scene
@hackneycouncil @HackneyAbbott @mayorofhackney @MPSHackney why is this level of response deemed necessary for one unarmed black man? Why is this deemed a suitable use of our taxpayer funds?
Footage from the incident today - Punching a man in the head while he’s already restrained by three other officers - is this what you teach in training @MPSHackney?
@HackneyAbbott @hackneycouncil @mayorofhackney what can be done about this?
@HackneyAbbott @hackneycouncil @mayorofhackney what can be done about this?
Should’ve included a trigger warning on this: violence / police brutality
I’ve written a template here for anybody who would like to email @HackneyAbbott demanding action be taken against the officer in this video: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12LsW42EuyNpFupA6qwoaTU0HtZeTBrGyxcOqqAGvLZE/edit
Full account of the incident on Monday and the @metpoliceuk response courtesy of @CharliellJones at @myldn.
No comment from police on why 28 officers were necessary, no denial that the punch was to the head, no clarity on why a passer by achieved what 28 officers could not. https://twitter.com/CharliellJones/status/1275762196283342853
No comment from police on why 28 officers were necessary, no denial that the punch was to the head, no clarity on why a passer by achieved what 28 officers could not. https://twitter.com/CharliellJones/status/1275762196283342853
Further coverage here from @EdSheridanLDR for the @hackneycitizen, featuring extended footage showing before and after the clip in this thread, and great insights from @HackneyAccount on the work they do holding our police accountable for their actions. https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2020/06/24/police-identify-no-officer-misconduct-in-mare-street-incident-following-comprehensive-review/
