UPDATE Monday, October 12: Essex Press Office reached out to Kenyans.co.ke after a video showing Kenyan man identified as Wycliff Cox being assaulted went viral.
The police department explained that an ambulance service team initially responded to the call before police were deployed because "the man was being aggressive towards a family member."
Here is the statement:
"Officers attended after further information was received that the man was being aggressive towards a family member.
"They attended an address in Dilbridge Road West to speak to the man, who was also found to be wanted on a court warrant for failing to appear at court.
"He was arrested in relation to this and during the course of his detention, an officer was assaulted. He was further arrested on suspicion of assaulting an police officer.
"The man was taken into custody, where we monitored his condition and liaised with health professionals. He was subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act to receive care. He was released without charge in relation to assaulting a police officer.
"We have received a complaint regarding the circumstances surrounding his detention, and this is subject of an ongoing investigation."
Police officer from Essex Police Department in the United Kingdom broke the internet after a video captured them assaulting a Kenyan man alleged to be mentally ill.
The clip, which first surfaced on Youtube on Thursday, October 8, left Kenyans foaming at the mouth on the evening of Sunday, October 11.
The four-minute clip showed the man, Wycliffe Cox, being pinned down by police officers who had reportedly gone to arrest him for a breach of bail terms.
The incident started when the officers reportedly restrained him after he tried to escape and in the process, kicked one of the officers.
The police are alleged to have kicked and pinned him to the ground. His kin can be heard in the background begging the officers.
One of the officers is seen on the clip kneeling on the victim's head region, with his right hand on his neck as other officers handcuffed Cox.
“Don’t kill my son…don’t…” Cox's mother can be hard begging the police officers.
“Move away, you need to move away please!” One of the officers retorted in response.
Towards the end of the video, the officers are seen attempting to cover Cox's bloodied face.
They later carried him to a waiting police car.
A UK citizen named Mia Kearns, later, kick-started a campaign seeking for justice against the police officers explaining that Cox was a well known mental patient in the area.
"He should’ve been handled with more care and not such violence as this. We want to make it possible for Wycliff to get the mental support he needs and let his family contact him and to keep them updated on his mental state along with having the police officers at the scene punished for their actions.
"The man was assaulted just for his mental health which is so massively wrong and police should be educated more around mental health and how to deal with people in bad states without violence and trauma to their family," stated Kearns.
Angry Twitter users expressed their outrage online over the incident with some noting that the mother had not seen Cox since the incident happened.
"A Kenyan in Essex UK was a victim of police brutality even though ambulance was called while the young man was going through a mental health crisis police came to the scene and brutally forced this arrest on him. Since the arrest his mother has not seen her son," shared a Twitter user.
"How can anybody justify this behavior. This is disregarding somebody's life. The mistreatment of black people the world over needs to end. This is so infuriating," added Elaine Nerea.
Below is the video of the assault:
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