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Shocking video appears to show the moment a Charlton fan is knocked out by a police officer outside Old Trafford.
The man is seen approaching three police officers in the car park moments after Manchester United’s dominating 3-0 victory over Charlton at around 10pm Tuesday night.
He is thrown to the ground, apparently unconscious, before another man is restrained by three police officers.
Witnesses have said that the surveillance of the game was unnecessarily aggressive and that the officials did not show adequate concern for the unconscious man.
A small fight breaks out between a group of fans and some policemen. Witnesses said the game had been aggressively policed.
The man was pushed to the ground by a police officer and appeared to have been knocked unconscious.
A small group of fans appear to be fighting with Greater Manchester Police officers in the car park, which is relatively quiet, video shows.
A police officer gives the Charlton fan a push and then knocks him to the ground, at which point the police officers walk away.
The man is left lying face down on the ground next to a puddle in the wet weather, apparently unconscious.
Horrified fans who watched the incident can be heard asking: ‘He’s knocked out, isn’t he?’
Another fan can be seen being carried away by three police officers, who at one point pin him to the ground before lifting him off the ground.
Police officers can be seen standing over the man, who is lying face down on the ground in the parking lot, before walking away.
The fan, apparently unconscious, was left lying alone in the parking lot by police officers, witnesses said.
A witness to the incident, James, who did not want to share his last name, said that the incident came ‘out of the blue’ as fans of the away team boarded the buses heading home.
James, who filmed the clip, said: “It was unexpected. All the Charlton fans were being well behaved, with some minor disturbances like you would at a football match.
‘But the guy who was pushed by the police officer wasn’t really doing anything to deserve that force used on him.’
Another fan was dragged through the Old Trafford car park, where Charlton fans boarded buses for their way home.
Another man was tackled to the ground by three police officers after the incident before being led away as the video ends.
James expressed concern that officers had not checked the fan, which was left lying on the ground in the parking lot.
‘They just left it there. He could still be there now, who knows?
“The officer didn’t even bother to check on his well-being and if he’s injured, he just walked off with two other officers.”
James added that he thought the treatment of away fans had been aggressive throughout the game.
Another witness, Lee, who watched the incident from his home by bus, said he saw a man in handcuffs running from officers.
“We saw a guy who appeared to have his hands cuffed behind his back running from the police who were chasing him.
“They caught him further into the parking lot and once they had him wrestled on the ground, he was handled by a male and appeared to be punched in the back of the head while on the ground.”
Then, Lee said, police tackled another man to the ground, despite no physical assault from fans.
“As police were returning to Old Trafford, the officers approached the other guy and one of them pushed him back initially and then the second time the massive push ended with the fan going down and staying down.
“He didn’t get up for a while and the police left him there, no officers checked on him, just a couple of other fans came to his aid once the police walked away.
“Eventually they got him sitting on the ground where he stayed for a few minutes,” Lee said.
He added that fans had not been able to go help the unconscious man because there were fences around the parking lot.
He said he hoped fans “would get some answers from the police about their actions and why after clearly assaulting a fan, they left him motionless on the rain-soaked ground and showed no concern for his well-being.”
Greater Manchester Police were contacted for comment on the video.