As he drove home from a television interview where he talked about institutional racism in the police force, Ryan Colaço had his car window smashed by a police officer.
Ryan was driving home after being interviewed by Channel 4 about racism within the Metropolitan Police as he has been stopped and searched “about 20 times”.
In a feature written by The Guardian, Ryan describes being “aggressively tailgated” by the police who claimed that they smelt cannabis from his car.
The officers proceeded to smash his car window and Mr Colaço was subsequently dragged from his car, forced to the ground and put in handcuffs. Mr Colaço claims that he hit his head during this time.
According to a report by The Guardian, he was taken to a local police station where he was drug-tested, strip-searched and held in a cell for 12 hours – no drugs were found.
Oh his ordeal, Ryan said, “As far as I’m concerned, criminal damage and assault happened to me on that day. It was a very traumatic experience and I think about it every single day.”
The full incident was captured by Ryan on camera and can be seen below.
A spokesperson for the IOPC said in a statement in response to the incident, “We are independently investigating an incident following a voluntary referral received on 18 June 2020 from the Met where a man was stopped and searched in his car by MPS officers on 23 May 2020.”
“This referral is linked to one we received on 22 June 2020 from City of London police following an incident on 29 May 2020 during which police officers stopped and searched the same man in his car. The referral has been returned to City of London police to investigate.”
Treena Fleming, a Met commander added, “We expect to be highly scrutinised and if anybody is concerned about a stop-and-search then I want them to come forward and report it to us. I am listening to, and engaging with, members of the community, particularly our young people, to understand the impact that stop-and-search has, so I can help ensure our tactics are respectfully and appropriately used.”