I jus wish all the commentators stirring the pot with mis information would just stop.
Rees Mogg was defeated as a Conservative MP at the last GE. His GB News Moggologue is currently circulating on line continuing to whip up tension and division. He stated that police are not allowed to handcuff people who are not resisting arrest. He is wrong.
Posters and viewers are incorrectly believing this as fact and this increases antagonism against the police which has led to these violent protests. The police did make a mistake by believing Digwa and have apologised- the IOPC has yet to complete its investigation and rule on specific concerns. Responsible politicians simply would wait for the investigations outcome not stoke up public antagonism against the police. Starmer, Bedenoch and Dvaey can manage that why not Farage, Mogg et al?
Think about Mogg’s false statement logically- it would mean as long as anyone simply does not resist arrest they will not be handcuffed. They could escape, they could destroy evidence, if not handcuffed. If the police have a reasonable suspicion a person has been involved in an offence they can legitimately handcuff.
Mogg also said a person is treated as innocent in the eyes of the law and these 2 police officers treated Henry as guilty and Digwa as innocent. Another misnomer. Police officers do not determine guilt or innocence, they arrive on a scene to assess the situation, protect the public and most importantly preserve evidence for a police investigation. Only a court of law determines guilt or innocence.
Yet again Mogg is stoking public anger against the police and one woman actually quoted him in the video of the violent protest. This antagonism against the police played out in violent protest, does not help Southampton residents, and does not help Henry’s family who have expressly asked politicians not to do this.
The 2 officers in the first tragic few minutes on the scene did wrongly believe their call out information and Digwa as we can see in the slightly over 2 minutes body cam footage. But once the female officer started to more closely examine Henry they saw he was stabbed and then realised Digwa had been lying.
The information these 2 officers had as they travelled to the scene was from the control room as a result of Digwa's brother making a 999 call. He reported Henry had racially assaulted Digwa.
I despair when Mogg and others make such ill informed statements in order to undermine the police.
Mogg also said Henry was treated appallingly because he was white. He has no evidence of this- he is whipping up racial tension. The judges sentencing remarks undermined Mogg’s comments and the judge has seen the full evidence. The IPOC also has yet to rule. The police have apologised for believing the information they were given by the control room, as informed by Digwa's brother and believing Digwa briefly.
Tragic all round.