A COP lawyer has slammed an art gallery after claiming it showcased a ‘biased’ exhibit saying Sheku Bayoh was the victim of ‘racist police brutality.’
Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow displayed a sign saying ‘Sheku Bayoh Street’ next to a painting that shows white police chasing black people – with one of them apparently lying dead.
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The exhibition, titled ‘Glasgow – City of Empire’ features a ‘Sheku Bayoh Street’ sign
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Police federation lawyer Professor Peter Watson said the exhibit was “highly misleading”
Bayoh, 31, was drunk and on drugs and had been seen armed with a knife in Kirkcaldy, Fife in May 2015 when six officers were dispatched to the scene to restrain him.
He died a short time later in custody and a long-running probe into the death is still ongoing to decide if race was a factor in the death.
But lawyer for the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), Professor Peter Watson, complained to Kelvingrove bosses about the ‘highly misleading’ exhibit.
He wrote: “The suggestion that Mr Bayoh’s interaction with the police was primarily or solely a matter of police violence or that it was motivated by an attempt to control individuals of ethnic backgrounds is both misleading and unsupported by the evidence.
“We must formally complain that both the exhibition and its explanatory materials present a one-sided and biased account of the circumstances surrounding Mr Bayoh’s death.
“We request a detailed explanation from the gallery as to how and why this exhibition has been curated and presented in such a biased and artificial manner, and what steps will be taken to ensure that the public is provided with a balanced and factually accurate account of the events in question.”
The row blew up earlier this week after the SPF were made aware of the controversial piece which is part of a bigger exhibit called ‘Glasgow – City of Empire.’
This exhibition examines the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and present-day issues such as racial violence and police brutality.
It uses a ‘Sheku Bayoh Street’ sign which was put up by the Celtic ultras group the Green Brigade and a ‘Black Lives Matter’ placard.
The narrative further references brutal policing as an integral part of the maintenance of the Empire.
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Prof Watson addressed his letter from not just the federation, which represents rank and file officers in Scotland, but also specifically their members who are witnesses to the current inquiry.
He wrote: “A female police officer was seriously assaulted by Mr Bayoh during the incident, resulting in her early retirement from the force on medical grounds and ongoing receipt of therapeutic support for her mental health. She lost her career.”
The inquiry is currently in crisis after the SPF said five secret meeting between the chair Lord Bracadale and Sheku’s family raised questions about his ‘impartiality.’
So far, the probe has cost the public purse £23.7million and counting.
A spokesperson for Glasgow Life said; “The museum scripted interpretation makes no mention of Sheku Bayoh or the circumstances surrounding his death.
“Some of the items in the Legacies of Slavery and Empire display including the sign, a placard from a Glasgow Green demonstration and newspaper headlines from the time relate directly to the Black Lives Matter Movement.
“The street sign in the exhibition was created by activists as part of the 2020 protests and was mounted in Cochrane Street by The Green Brigade. It is included in the display to reflect this act of protest.”
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Sheku Bayoh died in police custodyCredit: PA