THE TikTok lawyer helping a man who was kicked by a cop at Manchester Airport has dropped the case after new video surfaced showing a violent assault on police.
Akhmed Yakoob was representing brothers Mohammed Fahir Khan, 19, and Amaad, 25, after footage of a police officer stamping on Fahir’s head went viral online.
Yakoob released a video on Instagram on Sunday night saying: “After consulting with the family I have decided for now to step aside and I have recommended the family to a lawyer”.
He claimed widespread attention surrounding the case was “unfair on the Greater Manchester Police and the family”.
Yakoob added: “I will be keeping a close eye on this.
“I would like to say that I am not for violence whether it’s from police officers or it’s from civilians, always remember that.”
‘Social media lawyer’ Yakoob is understood to have been contacted by the family after the video of Fahir went viral last week.
The shocking clip, filmed at Manchester airport on Tuesday 23 and shared on Wednesday, captured a male cop stamping on his head.
It quickly went viral and sparked outrage without any context of the moments leading up to the teen’s violent arrest.
Several nights of protest in Rochdale followed, with at least 100 people swarming outside the local police station in on Thursday night.
A second video emerged on Saturday evening giving more context to the moments leading up to Fahir’s violent arrest.
It showed the same officers from the clip being punched with one put into an aggressive chokehold.
Brothers Amaad and Fahir appeared to be featured in the clip, fighting with police.
On the left, a man thought to be Amaad wearing a dark grey top repeatedly punches a male police officer as he falls back in a chair and has to pull out his taser to get away.
Meanwhile on the right, a man dressed in blue believed to be Fahir, hits a female cop in the face several times until she falls to the ground.
Yakoob’s shock announcement comes only hours after he made a statement today saying “nothing can justify” the actions shown in the video.
He said: “After reviewing the CCTV footage from Manchester Airport, nothing can justify a kick to the head to a defenceless man and a stomp to the head.
“Those are my views. These officers are highly trained, they shouldn’t be losing control or seeing red.”
GMP said one of the two female police officers at the scene that day suffered a broken nose during a violent assault.
There are fears the officers in question, who have been subjected to intense backlash online, may have to go into hiding according to one police source.
The force said on Wednesday evening that people are “rightly extremely concerned” over the clip and that a male officer involved had been removed from duty.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has urged cool heads to prevail and slammed those who rushed to “unequivocal judgement” after watching the footage this week.
