Police officers in Vancouver are facing accusations of racism after they were filmed pulling out their batons and tackling a young black man to the ground.
Footage shows an angry mob hurling abuse at three police officers as they struggle to detain the suspect who screams at them and angrily lashes out at English Bay on Friday evening.
Bystanders yell, 'racist motherf***ers,' accuse them of being 'f***ing racists,' and ask the cops why they haven't apprehended a white suspect instead – although it's not clear to whom they are referring.
Vancouver Police said their officers were trying to disperse a crowd when an 'aggressor' refused to leave and exhibited 'assaultive behavior towards police and the public.'
They said the unnamed black man, who is in his 20s, was making others feel 'unsafe' and left officers with injuries, including one who was sent to hospital.
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Footage shows a crowd hurling abuse at three police officers as they struggle to detain the suspect who screams at them and angrily lashes out at English Bay on Friday evening (pictured: the officers pin the suspect down, left, as dozens of people gather around the cops, right)
A third police officer arrives to help bring the suspect down, left, and the police officers fall to the ground with the suspect, right
Video shot by a witness captures the dispute from the moment that two officers have already taken hold of the suspect.
A young man and a young woman are already filming with their phones at that stage and hurling abuse at the officers, claiming they are racist.
The suspect is seen trying to wrestle the two police officers, a man and a woman, off of him, while the young man filming up close also gets involved.
The suspect shouts abuse at the officers and tries to fight free of their grip.
The officers draw their batons and yell at the growing crowd around them to get back.
A third policeman rushes to help them hold onto the suspect as the young man filming up close, who is white, also gets involved in the altercation.
One of the officers rips this man's phone from his hands and throws it away. The young
