Fears: ‘Tensions could boil over’ as new clip of Manchester Airport incident emerges and Mayor says there are two sides

Fears are growing that tensions could escalate in Manchester after new footage emerged of the airport brawl in which a police officer kicked a young man in the head.

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, stressed that the “complicated” situation had “two sides”.

The original footage, taken at Manchester Airport on Tuesday last week, shows a police officer stepping on the head of 19-year-old Mohammed Fahir.

The video quickly spread online, sparking a storm of outrage without putting the events leading up to the teenager’s violent arrest into context.

On Saturday evening, a new video emerged showing a brutal attack on the three police officers seen in the first clip.

It shows a man repeatedly hitting one of the police officers until he falls back into a chair, while another man punches a female police officer in the face until she falls to the ground.

Even though the new footage sheds more light on what happened at the airport, some questions about the incident remain unanswered.

At least 100 people gathered outside Rochdale police station on Thursday evening in protest after seeing the footage online.

As a result of the unrest, streets and tram lines in the city center were blocked.

Neil Emmott, leader of Rochdale Borough Council, told The Guardian: “There was definitely a concern in some places that tensions could boil over – there’s no hiding from that.”

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told MEN he was asking people “not to jump to judgement” about the violent videos.

“This is a complicated situation with two sides. That’s why I asked people not to judge too quickly,” he said.

At the beginning of the video, a group of people can be seen crowding around a ticket machine in Terminal 2 as three police officers, including two women and a man, approach them.

One of the officers grabs the hands of a man standing in front of the ticket machine to detain him (see video obtained by MEN).

It appears to be Fahir, the same man whose head was kicked by a male police officer in the original clip.

While he defends himself, the three police officers try to bring the situation under control. A second man intervenes and attacks the police officer.

You can see this man in the grey t-shirt punching the police officer in the face a whopping six times before the officer stuns him with a taser and is able to back away.

At about the same time, the man, who appears to be Fahir, appears to repeatedly punch a policewoman in the face until she falls to the ground.

Chaos breaks out in the airport terminal as the three officers try to fend off the group from all sides.

Police said on Wednesday evening that people were “rightly extremely concerned” about the clip and that a male police officer involved had been removed from service.

Burnham had previously told BBC Radio 4 that the situation was “ambiguous” after angry outbursts erupted online following the video.

He said: “Last night, like everyone else, I saw some of the footage.

“And my reaction was similar to that of most people in the community.

“I have since had the opportunity to look at the entire incident and I would say it is not a clear-cut situation. It is a situation that is rapidly evolving and escalating.”

He added: “These are disturbing images and Greater Manchester Police have taken the appropriate action. They have referred the matter to the IOPC and suspended the officer concerned.”

Fahir’s family also called for calm after days of unrest in Manchester and people stormed Rochdale police station in protest.

Her lawyer told BBC Radio 4: “The family also wanted me to make it crystal clear that they have no political agenda. They do not condone political violence and do not want to take part in any protests.”

“And they wanted me to call for calm on their behalf. And I hope that this appeal will be heeded not only in Rochdale, but also in Manchester.”

Fahir has a cyst on his brain and the symptoms have “worsened overnight,” his family’s lawyer said on Thursday.

GMP explained more about the video in a statement last week, writing: “Prior to this footage, we were called to reports of an attack at Manchester Airport’s Terminal 2 at 8.25pm ​​on Tuesday 23 July.

“The alleged suspect was seen on a surveillance camera at a ticket machine in the parking lot and officers arrived on scene to arrest him.”

“Three officers were attacked during our operation,” they told the public.

The statement said: “One police officer suffered a broken nose and the other police officers were pushed to the ground and suffered injuries that required hospital treatment.”