MEND Letter to Andy Burnham Regarding Manchester Airport Incident

Dear Mr Burnham,

MEND is writing this letter to you with great urgency and concern regarding yesterday’s incident at Manchester Airport, in which a police officer for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) kicked and stomped on a young Asian man’s head at Manchester Airport. This was made all the more horrific by the fact that the young man was already incapacitated after being tasered by the same officer.  As I’m sure you can understand, the video of this incident – which has since gone viral on social media – has sent shockwaves throughout Muslim communities within Manchester, but also up and down the UK. We note a number of incidents of concern in footage that is publicly available:

• The young man is kicked in the head and then his head is stamped on by the officer.
• A second individual, who is compliant, sat on a bench with his hands behind his head. He is kicked to the ground by the same officer and it seems assaulted whilst he is again face down on the ground.
• A bystander, who is filming the incident was pepper-sprayed, assaulted and arrested by another officer.
• An officer can be seen taking phones of bystanders or any procedure. There is widespread suspicion that this could be to remove evidence.

As a mainstream Muslim civil society organisation with great support among communities, Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) has been contacted by numerous Muslim community representatives in Manchester who have expressed great sadness about the incident, but also deep anxiety regarding what it could mean for the future of community relations with GMP. In order to assuage any such concerns, and to demonstrate to Manchester’s Muslim communities that accountability is being properly pursued, we would like to kindly request that you consider pursuing the following lines of action:

• Give a public speech on the incident, highlighting that the use of such disproportionate force against an unarmed, incapacitated man was unacceptable, regardless of what events may have transpired beforehand.
• Ensure that all officers under investigation are suspended from all duties during the investigation and not just the officer who stamped on the young man’s head.
• Aside from the IOPC investigations, we believe you should instigate an independent investigation into the incident, where you keep Muslim civil society organisations informed throughout the process.
• Commit to keeping Manchester’s public in general, and Muslim communities specifically, informed about the pace of investigations, with full transparency.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing back from you.

Yours sincerely,

Muslim Engagement and Development.

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