A police officer’s knee on the neck of a young black man: The family of a young black man plans to sue in Montreal

A police intervention filmed in Villarrey on June 10 upset a family of 14-year-old black teenagers who were immobile on the ground around the neck at the time, and he plans to prosecute the city. Montreal in civil proceedings to obtain financial compensation.

More than 90 seconds in a citizen video It has spread widely on social networks in recent days, We see two police officers arresting a teenager in front of a bus shelter in Villarere district. The young man did not appear to be opposed to the arrest. However, the video shows two police officers pushing a teenager to the ground before handcuffing him.

During the operation, one of the two policemen held the young man by the knees around his neck for several seconds. These images were broadcast exclusively by several American media outlets, The Prime Minister of Quebec Fran பிரான்ois Legalt was “deeply upset”, As well as the Mayor of Montreal, Valerie Plant. Elected officials called for an independent investigation into the police intervention.

“The images of the police intervention are worrying, especially as it is about a teenager and the intervention took place in front of other young people. These events need to be brought to light,” Myreland Pierre, deputy chairman of the Commission on the Rights of the Person and the Youth, said earlier this week. In a statement.

Case

So the young man’s family plans to sue the city of Montreal as the boss of the Montreal City Police Department, his lawyer said.^e Fernando Belton, president of St. Michael’s Law Clinic. The latter specializes especially in cases involving racial profiling.

“If we can prove that there is personal and illegal wrongdoing against my client, we can also pursue the police officers involved through the rich,” the lawyer said. The family must also quickly decide whether or not to sue the city of Montreal in civil proceedings. “In a few weeks, we will know whether the case will be filed or not,” the attorney said, pointing out that the family may also decide to file a complaint to the Family Ethics Commissioner.

Prosecutors say this is the young man’s “first contact” with Montreal police.

“Abuse of Strength”

In the video of the intervention, a police officer can be seen walking in front of the camera, claiming he had arrested a young man for possessing “a taser” or an electric pulse pistol. However, “the primary motive for the intervention has nothing to do with the discovery of a weapon,” he said.^e Belton. Instead, he points out that the young man received a criminal report under the city’s municipal by-law.

“I do not see how a police officer can interfere with a young white man and use this kind of force to give her a ticket,” he laments to a lawyer who does not hesitate to talk about a “misuse.” By the police officers involved in the affair.

These are young people who watched George Floyd’s video and never thought it would happen to them in Montreal.

The Montreal Police Department, for its part, pointed out that the analysis of the video in question was “still active”. In an earlier report, the police force explained that it had intervened on June 10 following a fight near Georges-Vanier High School in Villarreal. Agents intervened with two young men to “carry weapons”, which refers to the SPVM.

Fernando Peldon also refers to the second young man in question. The latter, 14, was stabbed to the ground by several police officers. The young man then received a ticket to cross the street at a crossroads “to prevent the work of the police.”

“These are young people who saw George Floyd’s video and never thought it would happen to them in Montreal,” said Fernando Belton, of two young men.

On May 25, 2020, African-American George Floyd lost his life in Minneapolis below the knee of police officer Derek Chou. The white policeman was also sentenced last week to 22 and a half years in prison.

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