UK Police Arrest Fuse ODG After “Smelling Cannabis” In His Car
Four of Brixton Metropolitan Police in South London subjected Nana Richard Abiona, popularly known as Fuse ODG to an arrest after allegedly smelling cannabis in his car a few months ago.
The encounter, a video of which has been shared on social media has been described as “terrifying”, embarrassing”, “horrible” and “harassment”.
The Grammy Award winner released the video on Thursday saying it was the “censored version of events” and labelling it as racial profiling.
The incident transpired on February 28 while journeying with his partner Adre Hackett from a meeting with one of the country’s top African historians to discuss their new digital platform (SONA) teaching black history, the video pointed out.
Video
The artiste was captured being dragged out of his Range Rover by two officers. He initially resisted but was overwhelmed, handcuffed and dragged out of the car by two officers.
Scenes from the video showed him being held in a police van and his car being searched.
Inside the police van, one of the officers who arrested him tried to justify their action.
“The reason why I’m searching is for drugs. I smell cannabis.”
“You asked why I handcuffed you…To prevent harm to you. You could be plucking the drug and swallowing it.”
According to the video, no drug was found but Fuse ODG in a write-up said it took more than six hours to get the handcuff off his wrist.
“After the incident, I spent 6 hours in A & E due to how tightly they clamped the cuffs on me…(excruciating pain!), as well as suffering neck and back pain for the following weeks.”
He doesn’t plan to end it there. He says he has filed a complaint with the Metropolitan Police for further action.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened to me or @mrhackett1. At one point, it was almost a weekly occurance. The difference is that at this stage in life, we are now in the position to have the resources at our disposal to deal with these issues differently. We have filed a formal complaint with the @metpolice_uk and we are very grateful.”
“That said, we are not holding our breaths for justice from this system. The real battle is internal…the real battle is won when we don’t let them break our confidence and we maintain our identity and dignity.”
