Arrest made over viral video of man wielding hedge trimmer chasing car

Police not currently investigating incident at petrol station as a hate crime, The Independent has learned.

Greater Manchester Police said an officer has been suspended (Alamy/PA)

A man has been arrested after a video circulating on social media reportedly showed a Muslim couple in a car being chased by a man wielding a hedge trimmer.

Footage shared widley showed a man running out of a petrol station shop in Greater Manchester towards a white van, retrieving a hedge trimmer from the vehicle, before running towards another vehicle.

The clip, filmed from inside the couple’s car, then showed a man approaching their vehicle wielding the tool as they drove away from the forecourt.

In a statement on Wednesday, Greater Manchester Police said: “We were made aware of a video circulating on social media which showed a man approaching a vehicle in possession of a hedge trimmer on Monday evening (5 August 2024).

“Our officers acted swiftly and last night (Tuesday 6 August 2024), arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of affray.

“He remains in police custody for questioning and enquiries are ongoing.”

Police are not currently investigating the incident as a hate crime, The Independent has learned.

The incident came amid widespread rioting across the country by the far-right, seeking to exploit the fatal stabbings of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last week.

The disorder appears to have been stoked in part by social media misinformation that the suspect was an asylum seeker of Muslim faith who arrived in the UK by small boat in 2023.

Several mosques across the country have been targeted during the riots, while hotels housing asylum seekers in Rotherham and Tamworth were attacked by thugs over the weekend.

Around 400 people have been arrested in connection with rioting and 100 individuals have been charged.

Hundreds of people attended a peaceful vigil in the Merseyside town on Monday evening a week on from the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar.

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised communities “will be safe” after a Cobra meeting and said those taking part in the unrest will “feel the full force of the law”.