Police representatives have criticised part of a Glasgow museum exhibit on slavery and colonialism.
The Scottish Police Federation has made a formal complaint to museum bosses in Glasgow about the exhibit in Kelvingrove.
The body, which represents police officers, said the display of a street sign “Sheku Bayoh Street” in the collection is “biased” and misleading”.
The street sign, which was part of a Black Lives Matter protest, was put up by Celtic ultras, the Green Brigade, who had put it up on Cochrane Street near George Square when other city centre streets were also “renamed”.
The fan group then donated the sign to Glasgow Museums.
Lawyers acting for The Scottish Police Federation, have now called for an explanation for the museum on how the exhibition was curated and for more details about the Sheku Bayuoh case to be provided.
The letter states: “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.
“Absent from the information provided to the public is any reference to the established facts before the public inquiry, including that Mr Bayoh was intoxicated with illicit drugs and alcohol at the time of his death, and that he had been involved in a violent altercation with a close friend on the morning of the incident.
“Following this altercation, Mr Bayoh pursued his friend while armed with a knife taken from his kitchen.”
They added he was seen in the streets of Kirkcaldy “brandishing this weapon”.
The exhibition Legacies of Slavery and Empire is running at the museum and the SPF said it references “the use of police violence towards local communities and suggests such practices helped Britain maintain colonial rule”.
The letter on behalf of SPF added: “ 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 as referenced in relation to Tanzania, is both misleading and unsupported by the evidence.”
Glasgow Life, which operates Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, said the sign is there to reflect an act of protest.
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.”
