Police ‘gathering information and video footage’ after city incident
POLICE say they are “gathering information and video footage” as they investigate violence as Coventry City fans celebrated the team’s promotion back to the Championship.
Hundreds of Sky Blues supporters came together in Broadgate on Tuesday evening (June 9), but things turned ugly as disorder broke out and police say “two young men were the target of a violent attack by a large group”.
Videos shared on social media show they were quickly surrounded by police officers who shouted “get back!” at the crowd as missiles, including bricks and bottles, continued to rain in.
Police were called amid reports that the two men were armed with knives and one of them was handcuffed while a search was carried out.
However, neither of the men were found in possession of a knife and neither were arrested.
Coventry Police Superintendent Phil Healy has already praised his officers for acting with “great courage” and now West Midlands Police has released a lengthy statement in which the force says: “This kind of violence will not be tolerated in our city and we will take robust action against offenders.”
The West Midlands Police statement reads in full: “We’re gathering information and video footage in relation to last night’s trouble in Coventry city centre.
“We need the public’s help to establish the complete circumstances around what happened.
“The footage we’ve seen so far shows our officers moving in to protect two young men who were the target of a violent attack from a large crowd.
“Those officers put themselves in harm’s way - in the face of bricks and bottles being thrown at them in order to protect those two men and prevent the situation from escalating.
“The officers were acting on information the two men may earlier have been in possession of a knife or knives. Given that information, one of the men was handcuffed while they were both searched.
“They were not found in possession of any offensive weapons, they were not arrested, so our officers again escorted them away from the crowd in order to keep them safe.
“If any hate crimes are identified we will take action against offenders.
“We will be carrying out a thorough investigation into the disorder and claims the two men were earlier armed with a knife. We are also investigating claims that some of the crowd were in possession of weapons.
“This kind of violence will not be tolerated in our city and we will take robust action against offenders.
“We are working hard to establish exactly what happened and why and would urge anyone with information or video footage that may assist our enquiries to get in touch via Live Chat at WMP Online or by calling us on 101. Please quote log 2731 from June 9.”
Coventry City FC also released a response to the disorder. The club said in a statement: “Coventry City is aware of videos of supporters on Tuesday night in Broadgate on social media. We have passed reports of these videos to West Midlands Police and will liaise directly with them regarding these.
“CCFC are clear and long-standing in our anti-racism and discrimination stance and our support for Kick It Out - both shown most clearly in our 2 Tone shirt this season - and more recently the Black Lives Matter campaign.
“Coventry is a diverse and multicultural City, and we are proud to represent it and all of its people.”
Anyone with any information or video footage that may assist police enquiries is asked to get in touch via Live Chat at WMP Online or by calling on 101.
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