.jpg?width=1200&width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75)
London
Protest outside Peckham cosmetics shop after man filmed grappling with black woman
protest was held outside a Peckham store on Tuesday afternoon after social media footage showing an altercation between staff and a black customer went viral.
Footage of the incident at Peckham Hair and Cosmetics on Rye Lane appeared to show a member of staff grappling with a woman while she asked for the police to be called.
The Met said police officers were called to the store just after 1pm on Monday following reports that a 31-year-old woman had attempted to steal items and an employee prevented her from leaving.
The woman was arrested on suspicion of assault and later bailed pending further enquiries.
The footage has since received more than one million views.
Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh, local policing commander for Southwark, said: “We know people will be concerned about a video circulating online of an incident in a shop.
“Our officers attended on Monday and continue to investigate the full circumstances of what has taken place. The investigation will include reviewing the actions of everyone involved.
“I would like to thank people in our local community for remaining calm and giving us the time to conduct a thorough investigation.
“If you have information that may help us I would urge you to get in touch.”
The store was closed while the demonstration took place, with one attendee holding a sign calling for the store to be shut down. Another held a sign saying: “Keep your hands off black women!”
A phone call to the shop by the Standard for comment went unanswered.
Speaking on Instagram about the protest, community activist Sayce Holmes-Lewis said the objective was to boycott the shop and to “hit them in the pocket”.
“We need to be very clear on our objective today, which is to make sure we boycott the store and any other store that’s going to treat us in a derogatory manner and disrespect us and extract money from the community and not put anything back in,” he said.
A Met Police spokesperson said of the protest: “We are aware of a protest outside the shop and officers are in touch with the organisers. We appeal for people to remain calm while we carry out a full investigation.”
Anyone with any information about this incident should call 101 quoting CAD 3943/11Sep.
