Police chiefs are rallying behind an officer who was suspended after kicking a man in the head while he was lying on the floor at Manchester Airport last week.
Officers who worked alongside the suspended copper have refused to carry weapons on duty in protest of the handling of the incident.
A source close to the firearms unit said: "There is real anger at the way this has been handled and they didn’t feel they could safely carry their weapons after the officer was suspended."
New CCTV footage shows Fahir Khan, 19, and his brother Amaad Khan, 25, repeatedly punching officers and a female police officer suffered a broken nose.
SNAP POLL: Should we 'protect the protectors' as police chiefs rally behind suspended Manchester Airport cop? YOUR VERDICT
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The footage of the attack, which happened seconds before Khan was kicked on the ground, shows "we need to protect the protectors," the Greater Manchester Police Federation has said.
The federation added that the new video casts the incident in a "very different light."
Colleagues also believe the officer was "disorientated" from being punched in the face and was worried his gun had been taken.
Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, also said the clip gave a "different perspective altogether."
Armed police lay down their guns as they rally behind Manchester Airport officerXLATEST FROM MEMBERSHIP:
He said: "We lost over 5,000 colleagues in the year to March voluntarily leaving. Assaulted repeatedly, poorly paid for the risks, slagged-off by clueless idiots.
"After this week that trend will only accelerate. I don't blame any of them."
Greater Manchester Police yesterday declined to say why the Rochdale brothers had not been charged.
However, it is understood that charges may take longer due to the publicity of the case.
In the exclusive poll for GB News membership readers, an overwhelming majority (98 per cent) of the 1,066 voters thought we should 'protect the protectors' , while just two per cent thought we shouldn't.
