Protests follow the police custody death of teenager in Liverpool

source: World Socialist Website
published: 23 July 2016

Protests have taken place in Liverpool, England, following the death of 18-year-old Mzee Mohammed.

The teenager died July 13 after being detained by police. From facts that are known, police officers went to the busy Liverpool One shopping centre that evening in response to phone calls from the public.

When the police arrived, Mohammed was being detained by the shopping centre’s security staff. The police arrested him and claimed that at around 6:30 p.m. he suffered a “medical episode” in their custody. Mohammed was rushed to Liverpool University Hospital where he was pronounced dead around 90 minutes later by doctors.

Merseyside Police claimed that Mohammed was behaving in a way that made officers “more concerned about his own wellbeing rather than the damage he could do.”

There are unconfirmed reports that Mohammed had a knife and had been seen at several locations in the area of Toxteth and the city centre in the period immediately leading up to his death. He was last seen by his family at 1:30 p.m. His mother called emergency services to report him missing at around 10 p.m.. She and her family were informed of his death at around 1:30am.

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