I have said for a long time that that police violence in the UK is particularly brutal. Whilst in America many police killings are by shooting, the majority of our police are not armed... Which means many killings here mirror the brutal choking of George Floyd. https://twitter.com/inquest_org/status/1276825601148620800

Any coward with a gun and a badge can pull a trigger. It takes a certain kind of individual to get up close and personal and beat or choke the life out of another human being.

It was partly the violent and brutal nature of this murder that shocked the world. If people were aware of the horrific nature of some of the deaths here in the UK at the hands of our police then people would have been marching in their masses for years.

***** Trigger warning: Police brutality *****

What if 6 officers grabbed an unarmed Black man laying down in the road, put him in a neck-lock and bundled him face down into the back of a van and left him there where he stopped breathing by the time they arrived at the station?

What if a Black man was left naked & injured on a cell floor lying in his own feces where he was found dead with part of his nose missing, severe bruising to his testicles & over 30 injuries to his body after 6 days in custody? Only after death was he given a mattress & blanket.

What about if during an "Alien" immigration raid 5 officers shackled & gagged a 40 year old Black woman where she collapsed & suffered brain damage in front of her 5yr old son from the 13-foot length of adhesive "Elastoplast" tape wrapped around her face? She died 4 days later.

What if 3 officers pinned a 19st white man, innocent of any crime, face down while he was heavily bleeding & struggling for breath whilst kneeling on his back where he died after 15 minutes? They then put him in a van “not realising” he was dead.

What if a Black man died in the back of a police van after being detained by 2 officers in the street, put in a headlock & kicked twice in the head as hard as possible? What if he had over 40 injuries to his body, including a crushed voice box & severe bruising across his back?

What if after a mentally ill Black man was arrested (without resisting) he died after being pinned face down on the ground for 15mins handcuffed behind his back inside a police station by up to 8 officers and then sprayed in the face from close range with CS gas?

What about if a Black British army veteran who after being assaulted was arrested to prevent a breach of peace. What if he was then dragged unconscious across the floor and left on the custody suite floor where 5 officers stood and made monkey noises over his lifeless body?

What if an unarmed mentally ill Black man fell into a coma and died 8 days later of serious brain damage and cardiac arrest after being restrained on the floor of a padded room by six officers? He was detained for banging on his own front door whilst naked.

What about if the police drove a car as fast as they could at an unarmed mentally ill Black man? What if after surviving the collision he was then sprayed with 4x the recommended amount of CS gas, hit with a baton & restrained for at least 16 minutes? No ambulance was called.

What if a white church caretaker collapsed while in custody and suffered a cardiac arrest and brain damage after a heavy webbing belt was held across his face for more than five minutes?

What if police officers attempted to pervert the course of justice after a vulnerable innocent Black student who called police for help, died from a cardiac arrest as result of neglect by police officers who forcibly restrained him & left him handcuffed for hours on the floor?

What if?

I wish these were "What ifs" - They aren't

Oliver Pryce
Leon Patterson
Joy Gardner
Richard O'Brien
Shiji Lapite
David Ewin
Ibrahima Sey
James Ashley
Christopher Alder
Roger Sylvester
Harry Stanley
Mikey Powell
Ian Tomlinson
Azelle Rodney
Thomas Orchard
Kingsley Burrell

These are just a few of the names of those that have died in custody or following police contact in the UK in my lifetime. Many of these have been ruled as "Unlawful Killings" by an inquest.

No officer has ever been successfully prosecuted.

Rashan Charles, Edson de Costa, Kevin Clarke... The names go on and on and on. Case after case. Inquest after inquest.

Police brutality IS a UK issue.

We must #SayTheirNames