Given Sammy Yatim's tragic execution by police for swearing at them and holding a penknife, and the shooting in the back of the unarmed Steve Mesic in Hamilton, I suppose the 'mouthy' young man depicted in the following video was 'lucky' to be merely pepper-sprayed for his 'impertinence.' Nonetheless, the justice sytem in Quebec, after an internal police investigation, has ruled that there was insufficient context in the video evidence to charge the officer, Constable Stephanie Trudeau:
Quebec’s directorate of public prosecutions said in a statement Wednesday afternoon that 27 witnesses had been interviewed in the course of the probe into Trudeau’s actions that evening and they had concluded, given the “aggressive and violent nature of the protests,” that the officer had not used unnecessary force as defined in the Criminal Code.
“As a result, no criminal offence has been committed by the officer who was the subject of this investigation,” the agency said.
From my perspective, the video seems to offer a pretty full context, but hey, I'm a mere civilian with a bias in favour of free speech:
If you would like to see another video featuring Constable Trudeau's aggressive proclivities, click here.
Police was just doing its job whether killing or pepper-spraying - that seems to be the usual practice for the last few years. So the advice to public is to stay indoors under Harper regime. Very troubling situation.
ReplyDeleteDuring G8 and G20 police brutality established the precedent and now a common practice by the police. It is happening more and more frequently.
I think you are absolutely correct about the precedent established at the G20, LeDaro. The fact that there were virtually no charges against the police during that infamous weekend in Toronto undoubtedly emboldened some of them to abuse their authority and show increasing contempt for the public they 'serve.'
DeleteI watched other videos of the same incident and the young man appeared to be taunting the police officer for some time, seeking to provoke a reaction. She did however attack a number of hapless bystanders sitting or standing nearby with her pepper spray, collateral damage or injury to those who posed no threat to her.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to engage in political protest, quite another to seek to provoke a confrontation and police reaction so one can later complain of "police brutality". This brings to mind mass protests in Quebec in the 70's where Maoists would deliberately break windows and seek confrontations with the police so that they could run an article in their press, complete with photos, complaining of comrade so and so being beaten by police. The SQ hardly needed "agents provocateurs" when they had such people doing their work for them....
Although I did not understand the French he was speaking, (my high school French never achieved anything remotely approaching fluency) Rene, I agree he was likely taunting her. Nonetheless, if police are not able to control their emotions or behave responsibly in the face of such taunts, I am of the view they should not be on the force.
DeleteUsing pepper spray or any other type of violence in response to mere "taunting" is not reasonable use of force.
ReplyDeleteI'm in total agreement here, Anon. Such behaviour merits at the very least suspension, if not outright dismissal, in my view.
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