Community anger after man killed during arrest
The family and friends of a young man who died after being chased and apprehended by police are calling for justice, amid fears community anger over his death could spill over into violence. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating officers' contact with Rashan Charles, 20, during an incident at his local 24-hour shop in Dalston in the early hours of Saturday morning.
A Metropolitan Police officer pursued him on foot after they attempted to stop a car on Kingsland Road at 1.45am. A statement from Scotland Yard said Mr Charles went into a shop, where he was seen “trying to swallow an object”.
CCTV footage of the incident, which has been widely circulated on social media, shows Mr Charles walking into a shop before an officer runs in after him. He is grabbed by the officer who tries to take him out of the shop.
After a struggle, he is seen being tackled to the ground and the struggle ensues. It continues for more than a minute, during which another uninformed man intervenes to apparently help the officer hold Mr Charles to the floor. According to a statement from the IPCC, Mr Charles "became unwell" and first aid was provided by a police officer, police medics and paramedics. He was then taken to the Royal London Hospital, where he died shortly afterwards. The incident marks the second police-related death in London in just over a month.
Family members and friends of Mr Charles, who grew up in Dalston, are now demanding justice, with some saying if action is not taken against the officer and the citizen who intervened, protests are likely to take place.
“We want justice for Rash, and for everyone else who has been dying at the hands of police,” Kaspala, a close friend of Mr Charles who had known him nearly all his life, told The Independent.
“His family want the police officer and the civilian involved to be taken to court. Rash was unarmed and he was not resisting arrest. He could not have possibly done anything that should lead to what happened. I just don't understand the whole taking him down to the ground and choking him and handcuffing him. Trading a life for a conviction is completely wrong.”
Asked what could happen if justice was not seen to have been brought, the 20-year-old said: “To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if a riot occurred. This is not the first incident where this has happened. A similar thing happened with Edson just a few weeks ago. Police are using their authority and taking it to another level.”
Khai, another friend of Mr Charles, who lived on the same street and described him as a “guardian” to young people in the area, said he and his peers had “even less” trust towards the police following the death of his friend. “People don’t trust the police anyway – and now there will be even less trust. I just want justice for his family, otherwise I can definitely see something like the 2011 riots happening again,” he said.
Pauline Pearson, known locally as the Hackney Heroine or Mama P after remonstrating with rioters in
2011, said: “Rash was a young youth who was well known on this estate and around this area, and he was well-loved. Despite the fact that they’re saying he was a drugs dealer – whatever the situation – he didn't need to be a dead drugs dealer."
She argued that even if he had been involved in some form of criminal activity, Mr Charles should never have been "so harshly dealt with", describing the situation as "too much". “He could've been sitting in the police station waiting for his case. He could've been sitting in the prison cell waiting for his case. But instead he’s now someone who’s waiting in a morgue waiting to be buried, waiting for an inquest," she said.
“There are many ways they could have arrested this young boy. They didn't need to have him so harshly dealt with. Rash should still be alive, he should still be alive today."
Ms Pearson added: “Maybe he did end up being one of the statistic kids on the streets selling drugs, but it's because the Government’s taking away all the funding from the communities. It’s a bigger picture. It’s not just a boy who got killed. It’s a bigger picture, so fix the little things so the big things don’t happen. Because this is too much. It’s unreal."
Chief Superintendent Simon Laurence, the Metropolitan Police's borough commander for Hackney, said IPCC investigators had viewed footage from officers' body-worn video cameras. “There is likely to be speculation over the next few days regarding what led to this man becoming ill, so I would encourage people to keep up-to-date with the IPCC's statements. All police officers are fully aware that they will be asked to account for their actions - officers are not exempt from the law and we would not wish to be,” he said.