Former shadow equalities minister Dawn Butler tweeted she had been pulled over in Hackney and had recorded the stop.
The MP for Brent Central said police had to “stop associating being black and driving a nice car with crime”.
The Met said the stop was a mistake caused by an officer incorrectly entering the car’s registration number.
She told the Press Association: “It’s obviously racial profiling.
“We know that the police is institutionally racist and what we have to do is weed that out. We have to stop seeing black with crime. We have to stop associating being black and driving a nice car with crime.”
Some on social media have questioned the narrative being shown by Dawn Butler indicating that the clip she released made her look like the driver when in fact this isn’t the case. She had blurred the face of the driver but not the Police Officer in the clip and some have said they think the driver of the vehicle was white.
Others have been critical of the mainstream media coverage of this incident where they offered no push back of the narrative offered by Ms Butler. This has been called out by former Met Officer Norman Brennan who has said he will be complaining about Ms Butler trying to stir up racial hatred.
She said officers said the car was registered in North Yorkshire and took the car keys while checking the registration.
They then admitted there had been a mistake, that it was registered to the driver, and apologised, she said.
The Met Police have responded with the following:
“At approximately midday on Sunday, 9 August, police stopped a vehicle in Hackney.
Prior to stopping the vehicle, an officer incorrectly entered the registration into a police computer which identified the car as registered to an address in Yorkshire.
Upon stopping the vehicle and speaking with the driver, it quickly became apparent that the registration had been entered incorrectly and was registered to the driver in London.
Once the mistake was realised the officer sought to explain this to the occupants; they were then able to continue on their way.
No searches were carried out on any individuals.
One of the occupants has since been contacted by a senior officer and they have discussed the stop, subsequent interaction as well as feedback regarding the stop.
We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further with the occupants if they wish to do so.”
The Met Police Federation appear to be fully behind their officers in this instance and have called for the release of full bodycam footage.
We are aware of video footage that is circulating on social media this evening following the stopping of a car in Hackney. Our colleagues want to be able to share their Body Worn Video of the incident and as a Federation we are calling for this to happen. pic.twitter.com/t6ZjJohYZs
— Met Police Federation (@MPFed) August 9, 2020
Lead Correspondent | David Clews is the Lead Correspondent for UNN, with over 20 years of political/campaigning experience and a wealth of social media and communication skills David gets to the heart of what is really important to the real people of the UK.
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