Excessive force: Finding the location of viral video of man beaten by police during Azimio demos

In a three-minute video captured by a hidden eyewitness, a disturbing display of police brutality is seen as sixteen uniformed Kenyan police officers surround a helpless man, each unleashing a relentless barrage of blows.

A voice can be heard in the video, which appears to belong to some of the officers, shouting 'kill him'.

Amid the beatings, the man pleads with the officers in a faint voice to stop, but another officer is seen running towards him before joining others in a cascade of more severe blows. The man is left screaming in pain as he lies defenceless on the unforgiving ground next to a deserted road, his body contorted in pain.

These are scenes from a video widely circulated by social media users on the evening of deadly opposition protests on July 12. 

However, the astonishment presented by this footage began to crack when online communities attempted to verify its authenticity. While many people appeared struck by the level of police brutality, there was no precise information about the origin of the video.

In fact, a Twitter handle affiliated with the Kenyan opposition coalition created a social media post with the video attached to seek public help in finding the location where this act of police brutality might have occurred. 

Right to protest

Many reports have sufficed over the years showing injuries and deaths as a result of police brutality during protests in Kenya. While the right to protest is covered within Article 37 of Kenya’s constitution, that has not been the case in recent times as more victims are killed at the hands of rogue police officers.

Kenyan police are often feared for their reputation for crime and violence against the most vulnerable in their communities. According to International Justice Mission, over 500 killings by police in Kenya have been documented between 2019 and 2021.

At least seven people were killed by Kenya’s police officers during Wednesday’s protests in Kenya, as demonstrators took to the streets to protest the high cost of living. Police confirmed three deaths in Mlolongo, two in Kitengela, and one each in Emali and Sondu.

Finding the Right Spot

Soon after the video began circulating on social media, one thing was in question - the location of the video.

Many online users expressed frustration towards the level of police brutality of the Kenya police while sharing the same video, with the hashtags #PoliceBrutality, but vainly established its origin.

After hours of viewing, we noticed the video contained a few clues that could potentially lead to the location. Using a combination of open-source tools, Nation Investigations delved into identifying the location of the incident by observing the hints from the video.

First, the video was filmed when the sun was right in the middle of the sky, probably just after midday as we can see the shadow cast by the individual was short. Therefore, clearly identifying the names of buildings or objects was a bit of a challenge. 

For certainty, we created composite frame grabs from the video as this would significantly paint a clear view of our area of interest. 

Upon careful scrutiny, we positively identified the name of one of the shops featured in the video right next to the scene of the incident. In analysing the names of the buildings, we noticed one shop with the name “HELMART CHEMIST”.  

After looking up the name on Google, we established the search result pointing out to Kibos Road, a street in Kisumu. 

We checked different sources for potential matches to the name. A recent video by a Facebook user in March 2023 was recorded along this similar scene, however, it wasn't clear enough for a conclusive finding. 

Helpfully, Google Street View from 2022 is available for Kibos Road which intersects to a bypass highway going through the outskirts of Kisumu City through Kondele. By following the road toward the bypass and checking every junction carefully for matching features, we found a match. 

Nation reporter, Rushdie Oudia in Kisumu visited the scene of the incident and equally verified the location.

After pinning down the location, we also established the direction the camera faced in the video from the story building where the eyewitness recorded the video from. 

Rogue police officers

From the video, it is still hard to establish the officers responsible for this atrocity as the footage is shaky and not clear enough to pin down individuals. However, the Nation will still carry out further investigation into this incident. 

Equally, Nation continues to investigate cases showing possible acts of police brutality committed against civilians.