Video Shows Man Who Can't Stop Laughing at British Prime Minister Raiding His Home With Police
“How are you doing?” the Prime Minister said.
A man whose house was raided by police in Lewisham, south London got the surprise of his life when he recognized a famous face in the crowd of police officers: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 58, was part of the team conducting a raid on the property. Unable to stop laughing, the man whipped out his phone and started filming the incident, saying, "How the [heck] did I get raided and Boris Johnson is there?" Here's what happened, and why exactly the prime minister was taking part in a police raid.
Wearing a stab-proof vest and with his infamous shaggy blonde hair on display, Boris Johnson accompanied Acting Commissioner Sir Steve House and Metropolitan Police's Specialist Crime Command officers during the raid, which was part of an ongoing crack down on drug networks in London. "How are you doing?" Johnson politely asked the suspected criminal whose house he was helping raid. Keep reading to see the video.
The man whose house was being searched seemed unbothered by the actual raid itself but delighted to see the Prime Minister. "Wagwan Boris! [British-Jamaican/Jamaican diaspora slang meaning, 'what's going on']" he repeatedly says in the video. "How the [heck] did I get raided and Boris Johnson is there? Let me put Boris Johnson in my phone…" The police reportedly found class B drugs and paraphernalia and a possible drugs line phone. No arrests were made at the time, but police say suspects were later detained.
Johnson made a statement after the raid, defending his party's record on crime. "Look at neighborhood crime, which is the thing that really affects the quality of life of most people in this country, and it's down by about 38 per cent on 2019 since this Government came in. I think that's a great effort by the police – not just by the Metropolitan Police, by police up and down the country. And what you're seeing is 13,700-odd more police now on the streets. That helps, that makes a difference."
Detective Superintendent Victoria Sullivan echoed Johnson's statement, saying the UK police will not allow drug offenses to go unpunished: "Drug dealing inflicts untold harm on our communities. Disrupting the lines of supply is central to our work in tackling violence, which is the Met's top priority. There are strong links between the two. This is just one of many enforcement operations being carried out daily as part of our focus on targeting the line holders, while also helping to safeguard the vulnerable people they exploit. Our message to the drug dealers is clear – we are coming for you."
This exploit is nothing unusual for Johnson, who is known for his unorthodox approach to statesmanship. The then mayor of London famously got stuck on a zipline ("like a damp towel slung over a washing line") during the London Olympics in 2012, wearing a hard hat and clutching a Union Jack flag in each hand. He also almost knocked a small boy over during a charity soccer match in 2014, apologizing profusely after the attempted tackle. Johnson announced his pending resignation on 7 July 2022, three years after leading the Conservative Party to their biggest election victory since 1987.
