UPDATE: West Midlands Police To Refer Itself To The Independent Office For Police Conduct Over Viral Video
West Midlands Police have reviewed viral footage of an officer beating a Muslim man over the head, a spokesperson told HuffPost UK on Monday.
The clip, shared widely on social media, shows an officer repeatedly striking the man’s head while he attempts to shield himself, with multiple police present.
The incident was filmed by a bystander and has been viewed more than a million times on Twitter and Facebook.
A West Midlands police spokesperson said they were aware of the footage and said it was being reviewed, in addition to body camera footage.
“Our Professional Standards department will consider whether the matter needs to be referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC),” they said.
The officer appears to be holding an aerosol, which discharges into the room as he strikes the man.
The announcement follows speculation online that six Humberside police officers may have been involved, after they were suspended on Thursday. The head of professional standards at Humberside Police denied any involvement by the force in the matter on Sunday.
Mohammed Shafiq, a Muslim broadcaster and contributor on BBC 5Live, described the incident as “police brutality”.
A spokesperson from the Muslim Council of Britain told HuffPost UK: “We are deeply concerned at this shocking video that has been shared extensively across social media.
“West Midlands Police need to demonstrate strong leadership in ensuring the officers involved are appropriately disciplined with a public explanation of any aggravating factors.
“Given this incident was only brought to light by a member of the public filming on his/her camera, we expect WMP to conduct a wider investigation that can propose specific safeguards to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.”
Giving evidence at the Commons Home Affairs committee in February, Baroness Doreen Lawrence – the mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence – claimed police forces are still “institutionally racist”, 20 years on from the MacPherson inquiry into her son’s death.
She argued there had been limited progress on the 70 recommendations outlined in the Macpherson report into her son’s killing in 1993, for society to show “zero tolerance” for racism.