Local movement solidarity forced the release of Wasseem Yousuf without charge reports Annie Watts

On Friday, in plain sight, in clear daylight, near Tower Hamlets Town Hall, a group of police officers pulled a man to the ground, headlocked him and at least one of them appears to have brutally punched him.

Wasseem Yousuf was arrested at about 5.20 pm on Friday in Whitechapel. It seems he was doing nothing wrong, just standing by a car, fundraising for Medical Aid for Palestine.

This in one of the most pro-Palestine areas in the country.

Shockingly Tower Hamlets Police posted on X that he assaulted a Police officer.  The widely circulated video of the incident suggests that nothing of the sort happened.

This is outrageous! This is assault!

Earlier today, in Tower Hamlets, a Metropolitan Police officer attacked a pro-Palestine activist in broad daylight and front of numerous witnesses.

This officer must be suspended immediately. pic.twitter.com/kzEfjnG5MC

— Syed Siddiqi (@SiddiqiSyed) July 12, 2024

Local pro-Palestine organisations responded fast and called a protest at Bethnal Green station the same evening.

I arrived outside Bethnal Green Police Station at 9.30 pm, a small group of about 20 people, mainly family & friends and concerned locals were already shouting ‘Justice for Yousuf’ and waving Palestinian flags.

Neighbours came out to complain about the noise but left when they realised what was happening and that the crowd was growing.

Police vans kept arriving and driving past us, the police inside looked like they were in riot gear, but none got out. More police gathered, but they were community officers trying to engage with and calm the crowd. We were told a statement would be made, but that didn’t happen.

Instead, the police closed the station’s front door and moved the crowd back, then they also closed the road

Soon well over one hundred people had gathered demanding that Yusuf be released, that justice was done and that the police officers responsible were singled out and held responsible. The mood was rightly extremely angry.

Soon, Lutfur Rahman, the mayor of Tower Hamlets also arrived and made a speech whose main aim was to placate and diffuse the crowd. Frankly, people were not impressed, they chanted ‘release Yusuf now’ and demanded action against the police.

The fantastic solidarity shown by the protestors paid off, at 4.10 in the morning Yousuf was released without charge. 

There is of course a terrible recent record of police hostility to the Palestine protests. This is the context in which we have to see this apparent assault.

To make sure this kind of attack never happens again, it is crucial that we immediately campaign for action against the officers involved.