The young person has his back to the wall, on the wall it says: “I can’t breathe”. He is surrounded by police officers and the atmosphere is tense. What happens then is currently causing discussions in Hamburg. Mobile phone videos broadcast on Twitter show how up to fourteen officers are involved in the operation against the youth. Finally he calls out: “I can’t breathe.”
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In a longer version of the video, you can see that the young person had previously fought against two policewomen and two policemen and repeatedly pushed them aside. An officer pulls out a baton and finally strikes when the young man stands in front of the wall without defending himself. Then reinforcements arrive, and at the end of the day at least twelve officers are on duty. The tall young man, who is 15 years old according to the police, continues to fight back, one of the officers repeatedly yells at the young man: “Get on the ground!”
A witness can be heard telling the officers to remain calm. Finally, the officers overpower the man and hold him to the ground.
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The operation was heavily discussed on social media and the police were sometimes accused of disproportionate violence. Above all, a shorter version of the video was shown, which does not show how the young man initially pushes the four officers. The refugee aid organization Seebrücke declared that this incident was only one in a series of similar attacks “that are repeatedly perpetrated by the Hamburg police against Persons of Color”.
The Police announced on Tuesday noon, The incident occurred the day before, when a district police officer wanted to check the young person who he had noticed several times in the past few days. The young person had repeatedly used the sidewalk with an electric scooter, in violation of the prohibition. The young person therefore did not comply with the request to identify himself.
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Then three more officials were added. Another questioning about his personal details did not help, and the young person threw his arms around when the emergency services were seized and pushed the officers away from him. Therefore, more officials were called in to overcome the resistance. This is where the published video started. In the further course, the officers tried to use simple physical violence against “the very tall and strong youth” and to take him to the police station.
Police see themselves in “constant tension”
Ultimately, pepper spray was used, which was previously announced. After that, the officers managed to hold the youngster on the ground and tie him up. “The deployment techniques were controlled in such a way that the young person was able to breathe at any time,” it said. However, it is the third incident in a short period of time in which amateur recordings show scenes of alleged police violence in major German cities. Videos of tough missions in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt am Main were already circulating on social networks the previous days – there have also been legal measures taken against an official.
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Several residents judge the behavior of the police as disproportionate and excessive. The young person was obviously overwhelmed with the situation, says an eyewitness. She does not understand why you have to overpower a youth with twelve officers. An employee of a neighboring shop wonders why the police are yelling at and overpowering a youth for an administrative offense instead of talking calmly or contacting their parents.
The police emphasized: “In principle, the police are in a constant field of tension when coercive measures are carried out against people who are physically very large and strong and clearly young.” The video clearly shows that the police were willing to end the resistance with simple physical violence and bring the youth to the ground. “Such missions often generate images that raise questions.” The use will be checked by the Internal Investigation Department.
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