Police arrest teenagers for mocking George Floyd death in viral photo

Police have arrested two British teenagers after a photo of them appearing to mock George Floyd’s death went viral on social media.

The image showed one of the men on the floor, while the other kneels on his head. Both are smiling in the photo, which was captioned “police brutality.”

Northumbria Police has launched an investigation into the image, believed to have been taken in Gateshead.

The incident is being treated as a hate crime, officers confirmed today, and the two men were arrested on suspicion of causing anxiety and distress.

They have since been released on bail.

One of the teenagers was widely speculated to be a prospective Warwick student, however the University confirmed this was not the case in a comment to The Tab.

One of the teenagers is believed to be a student at Bradford University, which is separately investigating the image.

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: “We can confirm we are investigating after an image was shared on social media which showed two men imitating the recent death of US citizen George Floyd.

“An investigation was launched and yesterday (Sunday) officers arrested two males aged 19 and another male aged 18 on suspicion of sending communications causing anxiety and distress.

“They have since been released on bail. We understand that this is social media post has caused significant upset and we want to reassure the public it is being investigated robustly and is being treated as a hate crime.”

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