There has been conflicting information coming out following the death of Edir Frederico Da Costa, better known as Edson. The 25-year-old died on Wednesday – six days after being arrested by the Metropolitan police.

However, the fact that his friends, family, and the wider black community in London have immediately suspected that something is awry with how the young man was treated by police and launched both a crowdfunder and planned a protest demanding justice this Sunday, should not be dismissed.

Edson, a father to one with another baby on the way, was arrested in Beckton, east London, while in a car with two other people. Police are believed to have used CS spray and force during the operation, and at some stage Edson became "unwell".

His family say that he had a broken neck, brain damage as a result of head injuries, a broken collarbone and loss of his eyesight due to the quantity of CS spray used, but the police have countered their claims.

The IPCC said: “The preliminary postmortem found that Mr Da Costa did not suffer a broken neck or any other spinal injury during his interaction with the police. It found he did not suffer a broken collarbone or bleeding to the brain.

However, the Metropolitan Police specifically have form. The London Riots of 2011 were caused by the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot and killed by police in Tottenham.

“The system is rigged from top to bottom where arrests are made and the implicit bias people have against black men resides”

Next month also marks the year anniversary of the death of black, autisitic teenager Mzee Mohammed, who family members say "died like a slave" while in police custody in Liverpool. 

Quite apart from the fact that black men are disproportionately stop and searched (one London-based friend told me this happened to him 12 times last year) and most likely to be subsequently arrested, they also make up roughly 10 per cent of those in prison, despite only representing 4 per cent of the population overall.

The system is rigged from top to bottom where arrests are made and the implicit bias people have against black men resides. Even the former Prime Minister David Cameron commented on it last year while launching the Lammy Review into racial bias in the criminal justice system. "If you’re black, you’re more likely to be in a prison cell than studying at a top university," he said. "And if you’re black, it seems you’re more likely to be sentenced to custody for a crime than if you’re white."

Although our troubles with the state are incredibly different from those in the USA, and there are far fewer deaths here, there are parallels with lack of respobsibility the police take for their own crimes. Only last week the police officer accused of killing Philando Castile, a Minnesotan man whose death was livestreamed on Facebook, was acquitted.

Tomorrow there is a Justice for Edson peaceful protest happening at Forest Gate in east London, and while his family members have withdrawn support from the action, there are unconfirmed reports from Black Lives Matter UK that this may have been due to pressure "exerted by the police to make sure it doesnt go ahead".

Nevertheless, I'll be turning out, both in support of Edson, but also in support of all the other black men and women who are subjected to racist treatment at the hands of the state. I believe our pain and anger is righteous.

As written by his family member Larissa Lilliana Dos Santos on Facebook: "[Edson] had a heart of palladium, you would always help people even if you were struggling, you would break your last bread with anyone who asked... Not only will I bid you to rest in peace and power but also with the assurance that NONE will rest until we get justice for you, because you never let us down and this this round WE got you."