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.
Greater Manchester Police said it understood people’s “immense feeling of concern” and respected the right to protest – and that the demonstration had finished “safely without incident”.
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.
The video was widely shared on social media and has been described as “truly shocking” by the police force itself.
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.
“As the attending officers were firearms officers, there was a clear risk during this assault of their firearms being taken from them,” a spokesman for the force said.
Four men were arrested at the scene for affray and assault on emergency service workers.
GMP earlier said it had voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct – the watchdog that oversees police conduct and investigates complaints.
The IOPC said it would assess GMP’s referral “and decide what further action is required”.
Amar Minhas from Leeds told the BBC he was coming through arrivals when he saw the scene unfold.
He said police officers had approached one of the men, in his early 20s, and told him he was a wanted man, before “they pinned him up against a wall”.
Another man then “started on the police” and a fight ensued, he said.
The man who was being pinned against the wall started “throwing punches, he was Tasered, and fell to the floor”, Mr Minhas said.
“That’s when the policeman kicked him.”
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.
Andy George, president of the National Black Police Association, described the video as “difficult to watch”.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: “Whilst policing is a really difficult job, we are trained to a higher standard and held to a higher standard.”
Home Office minister Dame Diana Johnson also posted on X: “I am aware of disturbing footage from an incident at Manchester Airport this afternoon and understand the public concern it has prompted.
“I have asked for a full update from Greater Manchester Police.”
In a statement after the video went viral, Assistant Chief Constable Wasim Chaudhry said: “We know that a film of an incident at Manchester Airport that is circulating widely shows an event that is truly shocking, and that people are rightly extremely concerned about.
“The use of such force in an arrest is an unusual occurrence and one that we understand creates alarm.”
Commenting on the protest in Rochdale, and noting the referral already made to the IOPC, ACC Chaudhry said: “We understand the immense feeling of concern and worry that people feel about our response and fully respect their right to demonstrate their views peacefully.”
He added: “We have spent the evening listening to community feedback and will continue to engage with communities and elected members to maintain strong partnership links and understand local views.”
