UK police force Muslim children to the ground with guns

The Birmingham mother of four children, the youngest being just 15, who were led out of their home by armed police and forced to lie on the ground to be handcuffed, has described the ‘disgraceful’ treatment of her family by the police. She claims that the West Midlands Police, treated her children “like animals”.

It appears that the West Midlands Police officers attended the property in Birmingham on Monday 10^th April 2017, after receiving reports of an armed man on the premises. No firearm was found during the search. 

Shocking footage taken by an onlooker shows machine gun-wielding officers forcing the children – some of whom were barefoot and in their pyjamas – being forced to lie face-down on the road in front of their home, before being restrained under the gaze of a crowd of bystanders.

Their mother said: “I left the house just before 12 yesterday afternoon to go and pay some bills down the road, and left my children in the house as they’re on holidays.”

She stated that, on her return, “armed police officers started to approach me and ask me questions about where I live and what I had in the house.

“then they started to grab me by the wrist and try and drag me towards the van,

“There four or five officers with me, and then some others with my children, I don’t know how many. My kids were terrified.

“I was put in a police riot van while they were searching the house and my kids.

“I wasn’t aware of what they were doing to my children when I was in the van. I saw the video in the evening, and was just stunned.

“They just let me back into the house at the end of it, along with my children who were utterly terrified.

“They’ve given me absolutely no explanation whatsoever. No apology, no explanation at all. It’s disgraceful… I do feel very mistreated.

“I’m devastated that I wasn’t there with [my children] as they were being searched, so that I could calm them down a bit.”

The mother said she wanted an apology and an explanation from the police after they ‘ransacked’ her home, and added she was taking legal advice.

A local business owner who witnessed the event said: “I believe that the police did too much. These are kids. They are never going to have guns and things like this. Why treat them in this way?

“Something like that, being embarrassed in front of a lot of people, being told that they’ve done something wrong, it affects them.

“It is the sort of thing that can scar them for a long time, make them scared to go out or make them feel different from everyone else.”

Another local onlooker added: “It was very shocking.

“I saw the children being taken out of the house, with their hands in the air. They looked very scared, very scared.

“You could see that they were shaking.”

A nearby resident also stated that: “When I went to see what was happening the police let them stand by themselves and go back into the house. The young girl was asking for her mother, she was very shaken.”

Another witness said: “What I want to know is why the police have done this. They were heavy-handed, in my opinion.

“Guns were pointed on them, they were grabbed by the police and almost dragged out onto the road, for no reason.

“The kids are young, they are innocent and yet they were embarrassed completely – brought out in the street in little clothing, and forced to lie down while being searched.

“I know that people are scared and it is right because of what has happened in Westminster and now in Sweden.

“It’s right that people are alert but I think this is crossing a line.

“People have to live their lives, and who knows how much disruption this will cause the kids, especially at such a tender age.’ 

West Midlands Police responded stating: “Police were called to reports of a man believed to be carrying firearms in Pretoria Road, Bordesley Green, at around 10.50am.

“Officers and the police helicopter attended the scene but despite a thorough search no firearms were recovered and no arrests were made.