A video has emerged of a police officer appearing to punch a Manchester United fan as he lay on the ground while being arrested.
The game between United and Liverpool was posponed on Sunday as fans broke into Old Trafford to protest the Glazer family ownership of the club.
Fans also protested outside the Lowry Hotel in Manchester, with police clashing a number of those involved.
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Roughly 200 fans gathered outside the hotel where the United team were staying, blocking the exits to prevent them from travelling to the game.
And in footage from the Mirror, officers could be seen dragging a young male behind a police van before restraining him on the ground and telling him to “stop resisting”.
One officers then appears to punch him more than once in the torso before pushing away other civilians who were filming the incident.
The officer can be heard shouting “get back now”.
The person filming the incident replies: “No need to touch me. I getting back.”
The police officer then shouts: “Do as I say”, to which the man filming responds: “I am doing as you say, no need to touch me.”
One eyewitness told the Mirror: “There was quite a heavy police presence. They pushed the protestors back onto the main road to stop them coming down to the Lowry Hotel where the players were.
“It all went well up until the point the fans found out the game was off, which then it started to turn ugly towards the police, started throwing bottles, lighting smoke grenades.
“They were blocking cars, smashing into cars, kicking cars and then the truck turned up where it all started. They were blocking it. The driver got out, tried to confront them.”
A second eyewitness said: “What kicked that incident off, I believe, was there was a lorry trying to get through and basically the protestors wouldn’t let the lorry come through. The driver got out and a couple of protestors starting climbing on the front of the lorry.”
It was at that moment that officers made the arrest
“I’d had good relations with the police all day,” he said. “They’d had no problem with me getting right up as close as I wanted to them, to their lines and walking through them. At that point [of the arrest] I was made to move away from what was going on.”
Discussing the protest, he added: “A lot happened. Protestors were throwing flares and bottles at police. I saw them kicking buses that were trying to get through, stopping traffic getting through.
“The place was an absolute tip when they left, the place was just broken glass, flares, rubbish, bottles, all over the floor where they’d been.
“They kept trying to get closer to the Lowry Hotel where the team were staying.”
Greater Manchester Police issued the Mirror with the following statement: “We are aware of a video circulating online of officers making an arrest during a protest today (2 May) near The Lowry Hotel.
“The video depicts officers arresting a 28-year-old male on suspicion of a theft from a motor vehicle and a public order offence. He currently remains in custody for questioning.
“GMP’s Professional Standards Branch has been made aware of the video and will be examining the footage and all available evidence to understand the full circumstances surrounding the arrest.”
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