Ghanaian-British musician Fuse ODG experienced a violent encounter with UK police in Brixton when he was forcibly handcuffed and pulled out of his car. The police claimed they detected the smell of marijuana emanating from his vehicle, leading to their actions. The Grammy-winning artist firmly believes that this incident was a clear case of racial profiling by the British authorities. Above the chaos, Fuse ODG’s voice can be heard shouting something along the lines of, “Are you crazy? Do you have a warrant?”
In a viral video, Fuse ODG can be seen resisting the aggressive approach of the police before ultimately being apprehended. His business partner, who was present in the car, witnessed the entire incident. According to an Instagram post by the Afrobeats musician, the event took place on February 28 of that year (2023).
The police justified their forceful actions by claiming they needed to physically restrain Fuse ODG to prevent him from causing harm to himself. This is why they opted for an exceptionally harsh approach. In the footage, one officer explained to Fuse ODG, “The reason is to prevent harm… harm to you and harm to yourself as well because you could grab the drugs and swallow them.”
Fuse ODG shared a video of the incident on his social media platforms, providing a detailed account of what transpired.
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He added this Caption to the video
“I almost didn’t share this incident as, firstly, I’m exhausted of seeing videos like this myself, as I know a lot of you are. Secondly, for my own sense of pride, honestly speaking, it’s just embarrassing. I’m too much of a king to be handled like this! So with the above in mind, what you are watching is actually a censored version of events,” he stated.
“Having taken the time to process the incident and this ongoing problem, there are certain things that I feel must be said.
“This incident took place a few months back, on 28th Feb 2023. I was dragged out of my car and handcuffed in the middle of the street in Brixton with no warning or explanation. After the incident, I spent 6 hours in A & E due to how tightly they clamped the cuffs on me (excruciating pain!), as well as suffering neck and back pain for the following weeks”.
“It’s wild that this is the normal reality for too many of us growing up in this country, but even wilder is that this is still the reality in a post George Floyd world.
“In the past months, we have seen so many videos of police officers beating up and even kneeling on our black children in the UK. I know because a lot of the time they come to me for help.”
“The sad reality is that as a black man living in this system, it doesn’t matter how much money you make or the positive impact that you have on the world, they still only see you as one thing.”
“This isn’t the first time this has happened to me or @mrhackett1. At one point, it was almost a weekly occurrence. The difference is that at this stage in life, we are now in the position to have the resources at our disposal to deal with these issues differently. We have filed a formal complaint with the @metpolice_uk, and we are very grateful to @tundeokewale of @UrbanLawyers, who has come to stand in the gap for us.” Fuse ODG added.
