The man with small backpack is pointing at the sports shop and shouting at the officer -
“I bought it from there you retard!”
“I’m meeting my friends!”
“What have I done officer — What have I done?”
“I bought it from that fucking shop you dumb cunt!”
“Is it out of its packaging? — Is it out of its packaging?”
Throughout the struggle the baseball bat dangles within arm’s reach of the officer, yet it is left untouched. Only after the man has been pepper-sprayed, forced to the ground and handcuffed is the bat finally secured. If the stated aim was to neutralise an immediate lethal weapon in a public place, delaying seizure until the subject is fully restrained contradicts basic defensive practice and leaves the officer exposed to close-range strikes for the duration of the confrontation—suggesting the priority was compliance rather than genuine hazard control.
Members of the public are remonstrating repeatedly that the baseball bat is still sealed in its factory plastic:
A few feet away, stands a man holding a full-sized wooden cross (explicitly designed historically for capital execution). The cross is significantly larger than the bat, appears homemade, and has no packaging. He turns to one of the officers and asks the obvious question -
“If I buy one (baseball bat) do I get arrested?”
“He just said he’s got a receipt for it!”
The Bill of Modern Britain…
“The officer tried to engage with a man in his 30s who refused and he was eventually detained and arrested.
He has since been released with no further action.
Enquiries found the bat was bought the previous week, but no intent could be proven and therefore no crime was committed. Our Professional Standards Directorate has reviewed the footage, and no misconduct has been identified.”
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/man-arrested-manchester-baseball-bat-5HjdftX_2/
