[Cherie]

The fallout continues after the chaos caught on camera that saw violence, injuries and arrests stuns Manchester and sparks protests

What is clear about the incident at Manchester Airport that has led to large protests is it was a sprawling and noisy affair that shocked onlooking passengers and reduced parts of Terminal 2 to chaos.

Several videos have emerged showing the police as they deal with what they describe as an altercation between members of the public.

While much of what happened remains unclear, the problem appears to have started on a flight from Pakistan that landed in Manchester on Tuesday evening.

Words were spoken between a middle-aged woman of Asian descent and another passenger, the woman’s family told The Telegraph.

Once on the ground, it is believed that the woman was collecting her luggage in the arrivals hall when the same passenger, a man, began jostling her with his trolley and making racist remarks.

Shortly after, the woman met her two grown-up sons, Mohammed Fahir Amaz and Mohammed Amahd.

She pointed out the man to them, telling her sons what had occurred, at which point one of the men confronted him and an altercation ensued.

Police officers became aware of the altercation at or around 8.25 pm and began tracking the family through the airport using cameras.

As they were making their way into the car park and were near the ticket machines, it is claimed officers accosted the family.

From here, the situation appeared to deteriorate rapidly.

According to family sources, the mother was allegedly struck in the face by an officer, at which point a serious confrontation began.

So far, no video evidence has emerged publicly of this initial encounter with Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

This is the stage at which, according to the force, a female officer suffered a broken nose, one of three officers to have needed hospital treatment following the encounter, having been “punched to the ground”.

In its first public statement, GMP highlighted the added tension arising from the fact that the officers involved were carrying guns.

“As the attending officers were firearms officers, there was a clear risk during this assault of their firearms being taken from them,” a spokesman said.

A source reported the men as having said: “We were not there to attack anybody. It was just happening. Our mum was just hit in the face and we were being treated unfairly.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester on Thursday morning, Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said the full footage of the incident showed a “fast-moving and complicated” situation with “issues for both sides”.

It is then that video footage starts to emerge of what happened next.

The video which originally sparked the anti-police outrage and other footage portray a scene of utter carnage.


The Telegraph