Edir Frederico Da Costa protest: Riot police called in as demonstrators set fires and throw bricks in Stratford
Campaigners claim young father was 'brutally beaten' before his death
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Your support makes all the difference.Protesters have set fires and clashed with riot police in north-east London in demonstrations following the death of Edir Frederico Da Costa.
Bricks were torn from walls and thrown at police and firefighters were called to put out flames in a bin near McDonald's in Romford Road, Stratford, on Sunday night.
Mr Da Costa died on 21 June, six days after he was stopped in a car by Metropolitan Police officers in Newham, east London. Campaigners alleged the 25-year-old's neck was broken and that he suffered other injuries in the stop.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has launched an investigation and said a preliminary post-mortem, carried out on Thursday, indicated there were no spinal injuries caused by police.
A crowd arrived at Forest Gate police station at about 8.15pm.
At least a dozen officers wearing helmets stood shoulder-to-shoulder and two-person deep at the station entrance as tempers flared, with swearing and chanting from the campaigners.
They held a calm minute's silence at 8.40pm with each person holding a clenched fist in the air. It was broken with applause, revving of motorbikes and then booming music.
Dozens of police wearing helmets and carrying shields pressed forward in a line from the police station at around 9.35pm. Members of the crowd had been screaming "no justice, no peace, no racist police''.
Some protesters carried "Black Lives Matter" signs.
Police were still at the scene outside the station in large numbers after dark when firefighters hosed out a fire which had been set in a bin near a McDonald's in Richmond Road.
Family campaigners were insisting that the violence was not coming from them and it had been set up as a peaceful march.
Buses through Stratford station were disrupted.
After its investigation was launched, a spokesman for the IPCC said: "Mr Da Costa was detained by police officers. During this interaction it is believed police officers used force and deployed CS spray.
"Mr Da Costa became unwell, first aid was administered, an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital. Tragically on Wednesday, 21 June, Mr Da Costa died."
Additional reporting by agencies
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