Clashes on campus: Protesters claim they were attacked with CS spray and tasers by police

The video shows students being body slammed by police


Ugly scenes erupted as students were taken down with tasers and CS spray. 

The Free Education protest at Warwick’s Senate House on campus began peacefully but turned violent when police arrived.

Frightening footage shows protesters screaming and the menacing sound of tasers ticking. One male student runs for the door and is grabbed by the police and body slammed to the floor.

A bald police officer, red in the face, wields a can of CS spray.

He is heard to say: “Fuck off or you’ll get CSed.”

At one point, security shout: “You’ve assaulted an officer.”

Protester Craig McVey said police were to blame for the violence.

He said: “It all happened very quickly, within two minutes.

“We were sat on chairs and on the floor in a circle, people were still using the student hub. Security were stood around and nothing was happening.

“Security seemed to be looking after us and it seemed quite amiable but as soon as police showed up it went all pear shaped.

“The police came in and security and police started brushing people past and then shoving people, pulling chairs away and started grabbing people. It really came out of nowhere.”

Craig, 24, said some protesters were kept inside while others forced outside. Three people were arrested amid the scuffle.

Craig added: “The officer with the CS spray then sprayed into the crowd among which was the filmer, spraying about ten people.

“You saw the jet go out from the can. They were incredibly aggressive, this was by many standards a very modest occupation.

“The most I saw were people who had been swung round by their necks and people pushed onto the floor and people are shouting what are you doing.

“It was only 20 people just holding a mature debate. We were inviting people to come and join us in the conversation. Even the security were visibly shaken.”

Craig, a postgraduate Sociology student, said the group would be considering all options.

He added: “At the moment our main priority is making sure everyone is ok, three people have been arrested.

“We’ll be considering all our options.”

Peter Dunn, Communications boss at Warwick, said the violence came after an unprovoked attack.

He added: “There were co-ordinated protests. We’re used to such protests.

“Our security team regularly observe peaceful protests. We used the normal measures to secure the protests.

Shockingly we were faced with utterly unprovoked acts of violence which was so aggressive the security were called to investigate.

“Police were called and then they had to handle it themselves.

Police were unable to comment at the time of publication.