A police force has been accused of 'institutional racism' after footage emerged of armed officers pointing assault rifles at two innocent young black men in Liverpool.
Videos shared widely on social media have captured the moment when two men were stopped while walking on a residential street in Toxteth at around 9.30pm last night (Monday, June 27).
Merseyside Police said its officers were responding to reports that a man had been seen carrying a gun in the nearby area.
One of the men in the video allegedly matched a description they had been given of a potential suspect, the Liverpool Echo reports
But nothing was found on either of the men who were stopped and no arrests were made.
The force has today insisted that the armed stop search was 'justified and appropriate'.
In the video, the shaken young men can be seen holding both hands up as the police guns remain pointed at them from close range.
More armed officers can be seen arriving on the scene in vehicles. In a subsequent clip one of the men can be seen being held in handcuffs as he is searched by armed officers.
The videos and the actions of the police have caused great anger and upset in the Liverpool 8 community and further afield.
Kim Johnson, Member of Parliament for the area and Liverpool's first black MP, said: "Seeing the video of last night's stop on Mulgrave Street, I thought I was witnessing an incident on the streets of America, not Liverpool.
"The firearms teams, the handcuffing of two young black men who were innocent of any offence.
"Yet another time when "you matched the description" was used by the police to intimidate and harass Black men for being Black; yet another time Merseyside police have left young Black people scared and traumatised.
"This is why I say they are institutionally racist and it is this profiling and scapegoating that needs to change, and change now.
"I have written to the Chief Constable to ask her what action she is taking."
A number of groups from the Liverpool 8 community have also spoken out about the footage.
Liverpool-based Kaalmo Youth Development group, which promotes the development of young Somali people, tweeted: "An incident has happened where two young individuals were harassed by the police on Mulgrave Street.
"Where reports stated that they were armed and later claimed it was mistaken identity. No apologies where given. When would this end?"
The Granby Somali Women's Group added that "no one was harmed due to the two youngsters remaining calm, same cannot be said for the police on the video."
Princes Park Councillor Tom Logan said: "Aware of an incident on Mulgrave Street. It seems no-one was physically harmed - which is lucky. We should not be seeing armed police on our streets." He added that he and his ward colleague have asked for an urgent meeting with police leaders.
Merseyside Police has issued a lengthy statement in response to the complaints made about the actions of the officers. Superintendent Diane Pownall the force was aware of the video and wanted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident.
She said: "Shortly after 9.15pm last night members of the public called us to report they had seen a man carrying a handgun at the junction of Princes Road and North Hill Street and he then tucked it in to his waist band.
"As with any reports of somebody being armed with a firearm, armed response officers were authorised and deployed to the area. They saw two men on nearby Mulgrave Street, one of whom matched the physical description of the person and was wearing clothing that matched the clothing described.
“Again, in line with training and procedures the officers carried out an armed stop. Due to the report that a man had been seen with a firearm, handcuffs were used during the search.
"Having viewed body worn footage of the incident we can say that officers explained to both men why they had been stopped and the reason for the search and both men were co-operative.
"Nothing was found on either of the men and no further action was taken.
"At the end of the search officers double checked that the men understood why the search had taken place and were advised on how to make a complaint if they felt the need to do so, but neither of the men indicated that they wished to make a complaint."
The force said that having viewed the body worn footage and given the information received from the public it believes the stop search was "justified and appropriate".
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