
source: Open Democracy
published: 26 November 2020
Police claimed the man who helped an officer restrain and handcuff Rashan Charles was “a member of the public” with no police connection. CCTV evidence raises doubts. Shine A Light exclusive (distressing content).
Rashan Charles was a healthy young man out with friends in East London when a uniformed police officer from the elite Territorial Support Group chased him into a convenience store. Without any verbal warning, the officer grabbed Rashan from behind, threw him to the floor and heavily restrained him.
A second man assisted the officer. Rashan, who was unarmed and presented no threat, died on the floor of the Yours Locally shop on Hackney’s Kingsland Road in the early hours of 22 July 2017. He was 20 years old, the eldest of seven children and a father himself, his daughter coming up to her second birthday at the time.