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The demonstrators present on Sunday also alleged that Da Costa was “brutally beaten” and some of them highlighted other cases in which black people have been killed and hurt by the police in the past.
The local borough commander, Supt Ian Larnder, stood in the middle of a group of protesters trying to answer their questions and calm tensions.
Some people reacted angrily, saying “you are protecting them” and “you have told us what you can’t do, now tell us what you can do” as members of the crowd pressed him about alleged police brutality.
More questions drowned him out as he told the largely black crowd: “I am here because l care deeply about what is going on.” Larnder also said: “Police officers are all accountable to the law, they are being investigated ... I genuinely feel for you. I will ring the IPCC and ask them what are you doing.”
When one of the campaigners asked if the officers involved in the incident were still working, he said: “I am pretty sure they have not been suspended but removed from operational duties.”