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Original poster

Transport police pepper spray maskless man

49 replies

ShootsFruitsAndLeaves · 04/09/2020 13:26

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8697125/Shocking-moment-bully-police-officer-PEPPER-SPRAYS-rail-passenger-resisting-arrest.html

We had the police enjoying being fascists with the whole 'going out of your house' thing.

Now it's happening with the pepper spray.

Police need to understand that all of these rules have big holes & exemptions in them. Not really possible for cops to be heavy-handed.

OP posts:
ChaChaCha2012 · 04/09/2020 13:38

A massive overreaction on the part of the police officer. The man said he was exempt. If the officer had reasonable belief that this was untrue, he could have issued a fine and the fine been challenged later. Instead he decided to physically manhandle the man, in doing so causing harm, as well as putting himself at risk. Also the man was originally distanced from other passengers, yet because of the officer's actions would have been closer to far more people than he was.

Very poor form, and yet another reason why disabled people are becoming scared to go out.

Foreverlexicon · 04/09/2020 13:38

He wasn’t sprayed for not wearing a mask. He was sprayed for resisting arrest and he must of been resisting quite considerably for him to be sprayed.

ChaChaCha2012 · 04/09/2020 13:41

@Foreverlexicon Why was he being arrested? He was exempt from wearing a mask.

Takingontheworld · 04/09/2020 13:44

@Foreverlexicon

He wasn’t sprayed for not wearing a mask. He was sprayed for resisting arrest and he must of been resisting quite considerably for him to be sprayed.
An unlawful arrest that was not warranted.

Wtaf is wrong with our police? Such power trips.

growinggreyer · 04/09/2020 13:45

Pepper spray was not supposed to be used as a control mechanism for people resisting arrest. We were told that it was being introduced to protect officers from violent criminals. Was this person sitting on a chair being violent? Mission creep has totally occurred with tasers and pepper spray. They are not being used to defend against aggressive people trying to injure officers, they are being used as cattle prods to enforce compliance.

Thisismytimetoshine · 04/09/2020 13:45

Reading the transcript (if the Mail are to be believed),
He says: You're not allowed to touch me by law. I do not have to wear a mask, end of, and you do not have to challenge me. It's against the law to challenge me.
What he chose not to say was "I'm medically exempt".
I wonder why he chose to behave like an arsehole from the get go? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Rosehip10 · 04/09/2020 13:46

He was being belligerent.

Triangularbubble · 04/09/2020 13:49

Police were called to reports he was deliberately coughing/spitting at people, not just that he wasn’t wearing a mask. He was then, shall we say, uncooperative. It looks like spray is a huge overreaction but I won’t judge one way or the other just on that short video, I’d want the whole story first.

Original poster
ShootsFruitsAndLeaves · 04/09/2020 13:58

Police were called to reports he was deliberately coughing/spitting at people, not just that he wasn’t wearing a mask

That doesn't appear in the DM report.

If that is the case then the facts about whether he deliberately coughed on someone or not (an assault) are all that need to be established. The mask isn't really relevant....

OP posts:
RegularHumanBartender · 04/09/2020 14:05

He was being belligerent

Jesus, and?! Does that mean he deserved to be pepper sprayed? I cannot believe people are cheerleading for this terrifying police state behaviour. I have seen some seriously "belligerent" behaviour on a Friday and Saturday night in the local town and have never seen anyone get pepper sprayed because of it.

Original poster
ShootsFruitsAndLeaves · 04/09/2020 14:07

also there doesn't appear in the video to be any discussion about the mask.

if this story is true why do they not say 'You are under arrest on suspicion of assault for coughing'.

End of story at that point?

OP posts:
JacobReesMogadishu · 04/09/2020 14:13

If he was spitting on people he sh be arrested and if he resists then whatever needs doing.

But if just not wearing a mask it was way overboard and I hope he sues for wrongful arrest. DM say the other passangers were sticking up for him which makes the spitting at people sound unlikely.

AlecTrevelyan006 · 04/09/2020 14:18

I’m not sure it’s good practice to use pepper spray in enclosed and crowded indoor space

CoffeeandCroissant · 04/09/2020 14:27

"Officers had responded to a report of a man coughing at two passengers. "

media.btp.police.uk/r/17345/man_charged_with_threatening_behaviour_and_assaul

Annabellerina · 04/09/2020 14:31

If this is the Merseyrail one there is a full video of the arrest available on facebook. I was shocked at how he was treated by the transport police. As a pp said, why not just issue a fine which he could then have appealed on medical grounds? Instead they violently arrested him, the policeman ended up with no mask on, this man with no shirt on, and their faces were cm apart from each other, defeating the whole point.

This is just another way for bullies to bully.

Xenia · 04/09/2020 14:36

it was a dreadful arrest. Also there are lots of exemptions - not just medical ones.

ChanceEncounter · 04/09/2020 14:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AverageNSad · 04/09/2020 14:52

It sounds like there was much more going on than not wearing a mask.

ChanceEncounter · 04/09/2020 14:55

@AverageNSad

It sounds like there was much more going on than not wearing a mask.
Yes, maybe so. Police always said they wouldn't have resources to police masks.

Worry people getting more belligerent, and police over reactions then happen.

PegasusReturns · 04/09/2020 15:10

Passengers on the train can be heard saying “he hasn’t done anything”

Appalling overreaction by the police

HeIenaDove · 04/09/2020 15:27

link to full video

twitter.com/CrimeLdn/status/1301844613565743106?s=20

HeIenaDove · 04/09/2020 15:36

If there were reports of him coughing and spitting surely he would have been arrested straight away.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 04/09/2020 15:56

Exactly, if he had been coughing and spitting on people, surely the police officer would have opened with that and arrested or fined him for that, not told him to get off the train because he wasn't wearing a mask?

Topseyt · 04/09/2020 16:00

I find it impossible to judge from the article in the Mail.

I've watched some of the video footage and thought that the man's manner seemed belligerent and confrontational right from the start.

He may well have an exemption, medical or otherwise, but he did himself no favours at all. I would have thought that the place to start would have been by calmly explaining that he was exempt and taking it from there. Instead, he seemed aggressive and defensive pretty much immediately.

I am not saying that the police behaved impeccably, nobody did. I would wonder if there might be further background to this that is not evident from the media reports and video clips? Perhaps he is already known to police for other things?

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