“Police arrested the victim of an assault and allowed his attackers to flee,” the Community Note attached to their post reads.
Police in the United Kingdom have urged the public not to circulate a viral video showing officers arresting a man who appears to have been the victim of a violent assault.
The footage, which has now been viewed millions of times, shows a White British man surrounded by a group of hostile non-White men. One of the men grabs him around the neck and throws him to the ground while another punches him in the back of the head.
As the assault unfolds, a female officer is seen grabbing the victim as he stands to his feet, slamming him against a nearby wall. The victim then turns and swings at the officer, seemingly mistaking her for one of his attackers.
The officer then arrests him while the men who had assaulted him are seen fleeing the scene.
The footage has attracted over 13 million views on X, prompting West Midlands Police to issue a public statement.
In a post on X, the force said:
âWe are aware of footage showing the arrest of a man after a disorder on Broad Street at 1.30am on 21 June. Officers found a group of men fighting. As the incident was dealt with, an officer was punched.
âOne man was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer.â
The post was promptly hit with a Community Note challenging the policeâs account:
âBirmingham Police claim âthe incident was dealt withâ but announce no arrests for participation in âthe incidentâ itself. Under Public Order Act §5, âdisorderly behaviourâ is a criminal offence. The police admit witnessing âa disorderâ but made no arrests in relation to it.â
The police statement continued:
âThe incident has been reviewed, and we have no concerns over the officerâs actions and we are satisfied that they were reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.
âWe would ask that footage is not further shared to allow the legal process to take its course.â
That statement also received a Community Note stating:
âPolice arrested the victim of an assault and allowed his attackers to flee.â
Full video:
The incident has fuelled renewed public anger following the death of Henry Nowak. Nowak, an 18-year-old student from Southampton, died after being repeatedly stabbed. When police arrived, they handcuffed and arrested the teenager as he bled to death after his attackerâa Sikh manâclaimed that Nowak had made racist remarks.
Critics have long warned that policing in Britain has adopted a âtwo-tierâ approach, with officers applying the law differently depending on the racial or cultural background of those involved.
Many believe police training has increasingly been shaped by concepts associated with âCritical Race Theory,â encouraging officers to view incidents through an oppressor-versus-oppressed framework in which White people are presumed to be aggressors and non-White people presumed to be the victims of White Supremacy.
In March last year, new judicial guidelines were introduced that apply differential treatment based on ethnicity, gender, and ageâleading to harsher punishments for white men compared to other groups in society.
Under the updated guidelines, judges will prepare pre-sentencing reports where necessary for defendants from ethnic, cultural, or faith minorities, as well as young people under 25, women, and pregnant women.
Historically, such reports have resulted in mitigated sentences, including reduced jail time. The practical implication of these changes is that white men, who do not qualify for these reports, will face relatively harsher sentencing outcomes.
Whether or not police intend to reinforce the perception of a âtwo-tieredâ system, this latest incident has certainly done little to dispel it.
This article was first published at Caldron Pool.
