Nobody has the full picture of the incident at Manchester Airport – Andy Burnham

The mayor of Greater Manchester said “no one has the full picture” of the incident at Manchester Airport earlier this week.

Protests broke out in Rochdale and Manchester city center after a video was released showing an officer allegedly kicking and stomping on a man as he lay face down during an airport arrest, Tuesday.

Andy Burnham urged people to “step back” and allow the authorities to carry out their investigations after the Manchester Evening News published new footage showing the run-up to the incident on Saturday.

A Greater Manchester police officer has been told he is being investigated for assault over the incident, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced on Friday.

Speaking on Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Mr Burnham said: “It’s a complicated situation, a very violent situation actually and there were problems on both sides.

“That’s why I’ve asked other people not to rush to judgment because of the complexity of it and simply to everyone who has their say, no one has all the facts. No one has the full picture.”

The new video appears to show a group of people standing near ticket machines in Terminal Two (T2) and a man in light blue clothing standing in front of one of the machines.

The male and female officers who were trying to detain two men were reportedly involved in a series of kicks and punches before one man was tasered.

An officer and a man in blue appear to struggle until the latter lies motionless on the ground, face down, and a woman kneels beside him.

The officer then appears to kick him and then headbutt him, which was shown in the already widely circulated footage.

Asked when he could expect the Independent Office for Police Conduct to reach some kind of conclusion, Mr Burnham said: “I know it’s frustrating in the world we live in, everyone wants instant conclusions, but life isn’t like that, no is that so?

“We have, in the last days, people making complete judgments on one side or the other. You pick a side in this whole thing and the truth always lies somewhere in the middle.

“Life is more complicated than people sometimes make it out to be on social media.”

Greater Manchester Police have opened a public portal for more footage and are appealing for witnesses to three incidents.

The first is “an altercation between passengers” from Qatar Airways flight QR023 which arrived at 7.20pm, which they said may have taken place in the T2 baggage or flight hall.

A “violent altercation involving members of the public” then took place in T2 at around 8.22pm, GMP said.

At 8:28 p.m., in the payment point area of ​​the terminal parking lot, three police officers were assaulted and left with head injuries, including a broken nose, he added.

The family of the man who was allegedly kicked and stomped issued a “plea for calm” and urged people not to take part in further protests, their MP said earlier on Saturday.

Paul Waugh, newly elected Labor MP for Rochdale, shared a statement written by the family urging people to give those involved “time to heal” and “due process to take its course”.

The officer facing a criminal investigation has also been given a disciplinary notice to inform him that he is being investigated for possible serious misconduct for a number of alleged breaches of police professional standards, including the use of force, a spokesman said of the IOPC.

On Wednesday, a large crowd protested outside Rochdale police station, chanting “Shame on you GMP”, while on Thursday demonstrators blocked roads and tram lines in a protest that started outside Mr Burnham’s office in central Manchester .