Opinion: Rashan Charles died due to false drug accusation and aggressive force

Young black man died due to police misjudgement and excessive use of power.

Rashan Charles, 20, a resident of Hackney, was pronounced dead in hospital after being chased and wrestled to the ground in a shop in a working class newly gentrified Dalston on July 22/2017 by an undercover London metropolitan police officer and civilian – sparking an immense peaceful and blaze of violent protests in the community re-opening wounds of Mark Duggan’s protesters, who was shot and killed in Tottenham on August/2011, who later participated in the protest for Rashan’s violent arrest attempt resulting to his death.

It has been revealed on Wednesday the 2nd of August 2017 by the independent police watchdog which is conducting an investigation into Rashan Charles death that a package he had swallowed before his death did not contain drugs. This was after the allegations by the police officer who wrestled him down which remain unnamed that Rashan may have swallowed class “A” drugs such as cocaine or ecstasy.

“Yesterday, we received analysis of the contents of a package that paramedics removed from Rashan’s airways after he was detained and restrained by a police officer and member of the public. Following a very constructive meeting with Rashan’s family, we stated that the package did not contain controlled substances,” Cindy Butts, representing the Independent Police Complaints Commision (IPCC), added on Thursday, the 3rd of August 2017.

“We did not provide further details, because the contents of the package are not directly relevant to our investigation – we are looking into the circumstances of Rashan’s death, not investigating Rashan”.

“However, given the inflammatory nature of some ongoing speculation I will confirm that the package consisted of a mixture of paracetamol and caffeine wrapped in plastic.”

This now brings up questions of how should police officers conduct their search when chasing a member of the community they deemed might have been participating in criminal activities? Should police officer restrain their force when handling an individual when they have no proof or unsure if he or she may have committed a crime? Should a new training program be implemented in the course of employing new Police Officers? Has no lessons being learned from our neighbouring English speaking nation of police force in America with the death of Freddie Gray from police using excessive force to arrest him?

Last week, the IPCC said the evidence it had seen so far suggested that Rashan Charles was detained by a Metropolitan Police Officer who had earlier attempted a vehicle stop which failed so the officer decided to follow Mr Charles on foot into a shop on Kingsland Road and decided to attempt to corner and detain him again.

The officer, with the help of a member of the public, restrained Mr Charles which led to Mr Charles handcuffed.

After he was detained, attempts were made to remove an object from his mouth.

In the midst of the arrest, the condition of Charles worsened, and this led to the officer making a call to another police medic who provided assistance to Rashan prior to the arrival of the paramedics, according to the IPCC.

No cause of death has yet been confirmed

An announcement was then made by a police watchdog which came after shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said the initial forensic findings would cause “deep concern” after figures showed a “disproportionate” use of excessive force against the minority community groups by police.

The Metropolitan Police has used force more than 12,600 times in just the last three months, with an unequal amount of incidents involving African and Caribbean people, new statistics have revealed.

The data acquired from Britain’s largest police community showed that a varying force degree was used, on average, 139 times a day, in London, or once every 10 minutes.

Close to 11,000 of the recorded incidents (with almost 87%) of the victims were against men, 1,600 (13%) were against women and (37%) against people classified by the police as transgender.

Of course, as we are in Britain, which is inhabited predominantly by white people from English, Irish, Scottish and welsh descendants, the majority of people affected were white, at 45% of incidents, while 36% were black, and 10% Asian.

The figures show that black people making up close to 13% of London residents, are disproportionately more likely to be targets of police force from stop checks to aggressive use of force in arrests, while white and Asian people are underrepresented.

Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary called the report “deeply troubling”. “It cannot be right that black people and young black men in particular are so much more likely to have force used against them,” the Labour MP for Hackney and Stoke Newington told The Guardian.

“All police forces throughout the country must treat all communities equally, and with respect.”

Ms Abbott said she also “deplores the injuries to officers” revealed by the statistics, which included 643 incidents where officers were hurt during the same period.

Scotland Yard also added that almost 14% of people involved in these incidents were believed to have mental health issues, but provided no evidence for this statement.

Reports say that the incidents counted ranged from taking hold of someone’s arm by force or handcuffing a “compliant” person to releasing a police dog or using a baton, CS spray, Taser or a gun.

Guns were used on suspects 281 times, equating to the amount of three times a day, but shots were only fired in two incidents, with one believed to be the London Bridge and Westminster terrorist attack.

Mr Rashan Charles’ family said the contents of the package swallowed “must not detract” from investigating the conduct of the police in the lead-up to his death. As the way in which the victim was detained is the problem.

“We are a large family and speak with one voice. Our single objective is to establish what happened to Rashan, and to do this using all lawful means available. We expect the IPCC to conduct an investigation to the highest possible standards, and to provide the answers we urgently seek,” reads a statement released by the victim’s family.

“We have raised concerns with the IPCC about openness and transparency, which is regrettable at this early stage. We are aware too of the results on the forensic analysis conducted on the package recovered at the scene”.

“Whilst this is important, we wish to make clear that the content of the package must not detract from our primary concern, which is to investigate the conduct of those involved in the incident that led to Rashan’s death”.

The father-of-one’s family have urged the news reporter to provide them with peace so they can deal with this delicate situation and also a calm following a series of protests against police in east London over his death.

On Friday evening, the 4th of August 2017, a large group of enraged protesters – many of whom had their faces covered with mask to protect their identities – clashed with riot police on the roads in Dalston with bottles and been the choice of weapon thrown at the police.

The group blocked Kingsland Road placing local night club goers in danger to due to the effects of the resistance by the police with the protestors before hurling chunks of wood, stones and other objects at police and starting a very unthreatening fire in the middle of the road.

The rioters where quickly dissembled by the police in matter of minutes but the statement was made in Dalston that night that excessive force cannot be how public servant treat a member of their community or retaliation will be the result of a life lost.