Police respond to video of officer ‘pushing Charlton Athletic fan over’ after Man Utd game

Greater Manchester police have responded to a video being shared online which apparently shows an officer shoving a Charlton Athletic fan outside Old Trafford.

A man named James posted the clip to social media which he says was filmed shortly after Manchester United beat Charlton 3-0 in Tuesday’s fixture and claims he was recording around 10pm as Charlton fans were boarding coaches to head home. He says a man approached three officers, who had another person in handcuffs in the car park, and was pushed away and then pushed again, sending him tumbling to the ground where he remained.

James said: “It was out of the blue. All Charlton fans were behaving well, a few small disturbances as you get at a football match. But the fella who got pushed by the police officer wasn’t really doing anything to deserve that force used on him. [It] happened in the stadium car park where all the Charlton coaches were parked.”

Superintendent of Operations, Danny O’Neill, today said: “GMP have been made aware of a video circulating on social media of actions taken by our officers during the MUFC vs Charlton fixture, on the evening of Tuesday 10 January 2023.

“After being made aware of this video, our Professional Standards Branch have reviewed it along with the body worn footage from officers in the vicinity, which provides much wider context to the incident. On review of all the footage we are satisfied that there is no indication that the actions of the officers amount to misconduct.

“All of our officers are highly trained and are committed to ensuring the safety of members of the public when undergoing their daily, allocated duties.”