How the Left compared Manchester Airport brothers to George Floyd

Telegraph

3 days ago

A peer who is advising the Government on its definition of Islamophobia compared the police response to the Manchester Airport attack to the murder of George Floyd.
Baroness Shaista Gohir, the chief executive of the Muslim Women's Network UK, condemned the action taken by officers last summer as 'police brutality' with 'remnants of the George Floyd murder'.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was convicted on Wednesday of punching Pc Lydia Ward in the face, causing a broken nose, and also of assaulting Pc Ellie Cook.
The assault happened on July 23 last year, when Amaaz and his brother, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, went to the airport to collect their mother.
A fellow passenger who had been on the same flight reported being headbutted in the face by Amaaz during an altercation in a branch of Starbucks in the airport's Terminal 2.
When three Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers approached Amaaz to arrest him in connection with the incident, he lashed out before his brother allegedly intervened.
A video of the altercation between the brothers and the police, which went viral on social media, appeared to show Pc Zachary Marsden kicking and stamping on Amaaz during his arrest.
He and another officer, who are under investigation over the way Amaaz was detained, face possible gross misconduct charges over the use of force and could be sacked if found guilty.
Politicians were immediately divided over how to respond to footage of the airport attack, which gained growing attention online from last July.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has been accused of initially siding with the brothers over the officers involved in the alternation.
Her initial statement at the time said that she '[shared] the deep concern surrounding the video and understands the widespread distress it will have caused'.
She said it was 'essential the police have the trust of the communities and the public rightly expect high standards from those in charge of keeping us safe'.
After the verdict, Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, accused Ms Cooper of appearing 'more interested in criticising the police and siding with the attackers than standing up for brave officers who got injured in the line of duty'.
He pointed to the written statement from the Home Secretary on July 25, which made no mention of the injured officers.
However, she is not the only Left-leaning figure to have voiced their concerns over the treatment of the brothers at the time.
Two days after the assault, Lady Gohir issued a statement saying: 'This incident has remnants of the George Floyd murder, and is a stark reminder that minority communities are more likely to face police brutality.
'What is further concerning is that on social media many have praised the police response, including Richard Tice MP of the Reform Party, who described it as 'reassuring'. When police brutality is applauded by influential public figures, it is likely to fuel further racism and Islamophobia.'
Floyd was murdered in 2020, when Derek Chauvin, a US police officer, knelt on his neck for over nine minutes on a Minneapolis street despite the dying man's pleas.
Police were called after Floyd was believed to have used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes, and subsequently refused to return the cigarettes to the shop or pay again.
Onlookers filmed the officers restraining him, and his death sparked global anti-racism protests and was the catalyst for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.
Lady Gohir now sits on the working group that will provide a definition of Islamophobia for the Government. Ministers have faced criticism over the process of drawing up the definition, which has sparked concerns that the current proposals could have a 'chilling effect' on free speech.
Claire Coutinho, the shadow equalities minister, claimed that the way in which it was being drawn up was insufficiently open and those working on it were 'activists with extreme views on how to define Islamophobia'.
The communities department, headed by Angela Rayner, has insisted that the group is independent and will provide 'evidence-based advice' to ministers.
Other Labour MPs at the time of the incident were quick to issue statements addressing the video, saying it was right that the police were referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct.
Paul Waugh, the brothers' local MP, met the family in the aftermath, telling the BBC: 'It's clear from talking to them that they are traumatised. Lots of people saw that video clip and they are distressed by it.
'The police themselves said it was a distressing clip but just imagine if that was your brother or your son in that clip; you can imagine how distraught they are. '
Mr Waugh added that the one of the two 'priorities' for the family was 'justice, and the need for justice not just to be done but to be seen to be done'.
However, following the conviction on Wednesday, Mr Waugh appeared to change his tune, with a statement saying: 'This case shows how the police put their own safety at risk every day to protect us all, and have to react in real time to fast-moving incidents.'
Meanwhile Lucy Powell, the Leader of the Commons and the MP for Manchester Central, said a day after the video went viral that the police were right to have reported its officers to the watchdog, saying she had been 'extremely disturbed' by the footage.
She told the Commons on 25 July: 'I also want to address the truly shocking footage we have seen of an incident at Manchester Airport. It was right of the Greater Manchester police force to refer itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, given the widespread concern about the incident.'
Meanwhile, Afzal Khan, the Labour MP for Rusholme, said: 'I'm aware of an incident at Manchester Airport where officers appear to use excessive force against an unarmed civilian.'
Amaaz was also found guilty of headbutting passenger Abdulkareem Hamzah Abbas Ismaeil during an altercation at the airport last July. But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge that he and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, assaulted armed police officer Pc Marsden.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said it will seek a retrial against both men on the outstanding charge.
Following the verdicts, Mike Peake, the chairman of the Greater Manchester Police Federation, said: 'Police officers in Manchester work in a difficult, dangerous and dynamic world where there is no such thing as a routine incident. They deserve support in that work from the public and politicians.
'The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with. Thirty-five officers are assaulted in Greater Manchester Police every week. We are bloodied and we are bruised.
'We have been supporting the officers concerned in the incident at Manchester Airport last summer since it occurred. And as a Federation we will continue to do so.'