Reform UK MP Richard Tice has called for the police officer at the centre of a Manchester Airport incident to have his suspension lifted.
Protests erupted in Rochdale and Manchester City centre after a video circulated of an officer allegedly kicking and stamping on a man as he lay face-down during an arrest at the airport on Tuesday.
New footage of the incident has since emerged of what is believed to be the events leading up to the incident.
Speaking on GB News, Tice argued the new footage adds context to the incident which shows the officer was justified in his actions.
Richard Tice defended the officer in question
X / GB NEWS
“I was the first out of the blocks, I saw the first video and I knew something very serious had gone on”, he said.
“I saw two officers had both drawn and used tasers. The police don’t use tasers very often at all.
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“I said at the time, which upset a few people, that something had gone on and the officers were getting a very bad wrap.
“In a high-security area, don’t take on an armed police officer because it won’t end well. They have serious decisions to make and in other airports they would have shot first, then ask questions later.
“I thought it was appalling that the Home Secretary, Andy Burnham and Paul Waugh jumped to the defence of what turned out to be violent thugs carrying out a vicious, violent and brutal attack.
“He took on and floored at least three officers. A lot of officers die because someone grabs their gun and shoots them, so they were literally fighting for their lives.”
Armed police lay down their guns as they rally behind Manchester Airport officerXTice’s Reform colleague, Lee Anderson, called for the officer in question to receive a medal for his role.
The party’s ex-leader said he agreed with the Ashfield MP and argued the officer should have his suspension lifted.
“I think they acted in self defence and I would lift his suspension”, he said.
“No one is saying there aren’t lessons to be learned, but the key lesson is the police need to get on with the communications and get the CCTV and body cam footage out there or to an independent panel and all this upset would have been avoided.”
Richard Tice joined Andrew Pierce and Bev Turner on GB News
GB NEWS
The new video appears to show a group of people standing by ticket machines in Terminal Two (T2) and a man in a light blue outfit is facing one of the machines.
Three officers appear to approach him from behind before trying to restrain him, with a male officer seemingly pushing his head down.
After Manchester Evening News published the latest footage, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said in a statement: “As I said on Thursday, this is a complicated situation with two sides to it.
“It is why I urged people not to rush to judgment.
“Following incidents in the run-up to the footage people saw this week, four individuals were arrested and are now on police bail.
“It is frustrating that we have not been able to put more video into the public domain but that is because this is a live investigation.
“People now need to step back and allow the IOPC’s criminal investigation into the officer’s conduct to move forward, alongside the parallel GMP investigation into other potential offences, so that a complete picture can be presented.
“Given all these investigations are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
