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news
Metropolitan Police officer searches Mani Arthur (via Instagram).PNGMetropolitan Police officer does stop and search on Black Cyclists Network founder after ‘smelling’ marijuana
A Metropolitan Police officer was filmed yesterday performing a stop and search on the founder of the Black Cyclists Network (BCN), claiming that he could smell marijuana on him. The cyclist, Mani Arthur, described it as “a degrading and humiliating experience.”
The incident happened at around 2.39pm yesterday afternoon at the junction of Woburn Place and Euston Road, with the officer stopping Mani Arthur, who was riding with two other BCN members, one of whom filmed what happened.
Posting the video to Instagram, Arthur said: “I was detained and searched by a police officer under the suspicion of ‘smelling’ of marijuana. I was harassed and humiliated in a public space.
“To say that I am pissed off is an understatement. Luckily for me, fellow BCN members Aaron and Hugo were present and recorded the incident.”
Recounting the background to the incident, he wrote: “In short, I was waiting in traffic for a green light. Three police officers were crossing the road.
“The one in the video told me to reverse my bicycle back behind the white line where vehicles have to stop. I was not blocking the pedestrian crossing.
“I told the officer that I would be putting myself in danger if I reversed because a small HGV was sitting directly behind me and I would end up in the driver's blind spot if I followed his instructions.
“I explained to the officer that usually there are cycle box lanes ahead of vehicle stop lines to protect cyclists and because there is a lack of one, I was using my common sense to avoid putting myself in danger.
“The officer tried again but I resisted and he turned around to join his colleagues as they were walking away. The lights changed to green.”
That seemed to have brought the episode to a close, but that was not the case.
“I was riding off to join Aaron and Hugo, who by that point were in the middle of the junction when I heard a call from the officer to turn back,” said Arthur.
“I walked over to the officer on the pavement. He asked for my ID and informed me that he smelled cannabis on me during our exchange.
“As a result he needed to search me for possession. He searched me by the side of the road.
“Before the search, I asked him and his colleagues if they smell cannabis on me. They said yes. After the search. They conveniently said they did not smell cannabis on me.”
He added: “I am very annoyed at having to go through such a degrading and humiliating experience.
“It seemed to me like a gross abuse of power by an officer who tried to show off to his colleagues and made up a reason as retribution for his failed attempt.”
Posting the same video to the Regent’s Park Cyclists group on Facebook, he added: “Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t smoke. I barely drink. This just adds insult to injury.”
British Cycling, when it published its Diversity in Cycling report in June this year, said that it had started “as a grassroots project that was sparked by a conversation between experienced road racer Andy Edwards and Black Cyclists Network founder, Mani Arthur.”
The governing body said that the report, which “sets out to explore the experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) cyclists taking up cycling as a sport for the first time,” would be shared with “its network of volunteers, clubs and members.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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104 comments
And calling people racist without any cause is ?
I would want to know how the guy being stopped felt about it - I didn't see him allege racism in the tweet quoted. Though I've known enough black people who commented on how frequently they got stopped and searched/questioned, to find it very likely that race came into it. I'd believe him if he made that argument, but surely it's really up to the guy who got stopped to raise the issue first?
Edit - having looked back at previous posts, I don't agree with nicmason's attitude.
I'm curious. Which bit of my "attitude"
"Attitude" was the wrong word - should have said "comments". But the word was in my mind because posters keep using it about this cyclist, and it does have a certain racial implication in the way it gets used.
But I disagree with:
Your focus exclusively on a minor side-issue.
That you leapt in to take issue with a poster who was expressing an understandable irritation at the double-standards employed by the police. Regardless of whether I would say the same thing, or entirely agree, I get why they might feel that way.
That you _seem_ to have the view that one should obey the police because they are always right - when I'd say I would mainly obey them simply because they have power, so personally I wouldn't want to take the risk of not doing so. I prefer a quiet life, me.
Both from a few personal experiences and those of people I know, and from numerous news stories, it seems to me they are quite often wrong, both about the law and about the safe thing to do (Hillsborough comes to mind). They certainly seem to have a double-standard about road-behaviour by motorists vs cyclists. I personally feel more confident in seeing this as being about that rather than race, but it could be both.
Thanks for that.
My "original " point was that if you are stopped over the white line and a police officer asks you to move back that doesn't mean you are right and they are wrong because you are in a "safe" space. You have a choice to do move or pick an argument and that may not go well. I have been spoken to for exactly this thing. So I don't have view that you should always obey the police but I do accept that if I argue it probbaly won't go well.
And were you (and I'm going to take a wild guess that you are distinctly caucasian?) accused of smelling of marijuana and pulled off your bike for a public body search? No? Fancy that, now!
Remember how in this case the smell of marijuana mysteriously disappeared after the police had made their point, too. Coincidence, of course.
How do you know it was racist?
Have you been paying attention? Stop and search is used disproportionately against ethnic minorities without any commensurate level of "finding" following the searches.
So from that you conclude that this instance was racist? Maybe it was. But on the evidence of a single episode, unless we can see into the motivations of the officer, there is no way to tell. You can not just say that because the guy is black therefore this negative interaction is racially motivated. Are all interactions across races predicated on colour, or just the negative ones? It becomes pure confirmation bias at that point; the guy is black, ergo racism - I see it every day. Maybe the officer just made a bad call, not ideal, but hey.
Are we sure that copper was the real deal? He looks like he's come straight from a very boozy fancy dress party.
I've also been told by a Met copper to move back behind the stop line at traffic lights without a ASL. When I refused, I was told to move onto the pavement and given a sanctimonious lecture about how dangerous the roads would be if everyone ignored traffic lights, and threatened with a fine. I bit my tongue.
Kudos to the guy in the video for remaining polite and good-humoured in the face of such a prat.
Having not lived in London for some time, I presume these days the police will routinely tell motorists to reverse back behind an ASL when they encroach into it?
Black or white motorist?
Why didn't you just move back ? Technically he's (or she's) right and you are wrong. Maybe you should be thankful they didn't decide to give you a fixed penalty notice .
Because it's obviously far better to be wrong but not under the wheels of a truck?
Certainly a variation on the usual 'no point being right if you are dead' position.
Because I'd have had to position myself either between the kerb and car turning left, or between two cars, neither of which is a safe position. It's not possible to know whether there's a bike's length between a car's front bumper and the stop line until you've filtered to the front of the queue. Perhaps I should have just joined the back of the queue.
Technically, you can be tried for treason if you affix a postage stamp to a letter upside-down.
Just from the still picture above, I was wondering if it was some sort of Harry Hill tribute act.
How it works in a white area:
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/18044234.its-time-stop-luxury-flats-sti...
This is an apauling abuse of power and I feel for the victim. I have to add that I have a huge respect for the Police as they have a very difficult job to do and I wouldn't like to do it. However this sort of behaviour does them no fovors at all. I really think this should be escalated.
Looks to me the officer couldnt wait to touch the cyclist, he went straight for the crotch before he was even finished taking the overshoes off. I wonder if there has always been a subtext for his ambition to get a uniform on and have the ability to abuse police powers. Kudos to the cyclist for keeping cool, a better person than me.
Patting him down, we can all see he is hiding nothing
Constable Savage, was it?
Can't say I noticed sir.
I don't know about the UK, but in the USA, I get the impression that police are trained on day one to say that they smell pot immediately after initiating a traffic stop, as a way to establish probable cause for a search.
There is another picture of him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reg_Varney
TBH when i saw the picture i wondered if the policemans name was Herrick... (I note the video isnt exactly in bright sunlight, hmm?)
download.jpeg
Agree with all of the above.
And what a mess the officer looked too. Looked like he'd come straight out of the pub.
Riding a bike and black, he's lucky to have escaped being arrested. Clearly the officer didn't like having his authority challenged in front of his mates, so decided to make Mani pay for it. Must be difficult having such a fragile ego when you're a policeman.
I'm reading this after watching the video of Ebenezer Azamati, and am feeling sick of the institutional racism in this country. Props to Mani and the guys with him for keeping their cool.
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