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Montréal police's own report proves systemic racial profiling
Wed, 2010-08-11 22:59
#1
Montréal police's own report proves systemic racial profiling
Wed, 2010-08-11 23:02
#2
This has been all over the news in recent days - and the police have been criticizing their own commissioned report, which they managed to cover up for almost 18 months until it was leaked to [i]La Presse[/i] a couple of days ago:
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Young+blacks+more+pulled+over+Montre... blacks more apt to be pulled over by Montreal police: report[/url]
The head of Quebec's human rights and youth commission says the Montreal police force needs to put an end its "systemic" practice of racial profiling.Commission head Gaetan Cousineau said that for the better part of two years police have denied accusations they routinely stop young black men without cause, dismissing each complaint brought to their attention as an exception to standard procedure.
Now a damning internal report, prepared for Montreal police 17 months ago by criminologist Mathieu Charest and obtained by La Presse newspaper, appears to confirm what individuals and community groups have been saying — young black men in neighbourhoods such as Montreal North are far more likely to be pulled over than young white men. [...]
Montreal police were quick to dismiss Charest's report, saying it used flawed methodology. But Cousineau said there are too many cases to be brushed aside as aberrations.
"An alarm should have been raised by such numbers," he said.
Charest's study reinforces the findings of Christopher McAll, a Universite de Montreal professor and scientific director of the Montreal Research Centre on Social Inequalities and Discrimination.
His study of young blacks in the criminal justice system found black youths between age 12 and 18 were more than twice as likely to be arrested as whites and four times as likely to be questioned by police.
Wed, 2010-08-11 23:08
#3
Catchfire
A story about this was on As It Happens this evening. They interviewed a black man who was pulled over four times in the same week, and on the fourth time he demanded to speak to a supervisor before he showed his identification. He was eventually served with two tickets, and in the report, the officer wrote that "in his experience" the name of the defendant (a traditionally French name) could not belong to a person of colour, only a Québecois man.
Sat, 2011-02-05 14:00
#4
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/license+profile/4228475/story.html]Q... Human Rights Commission recommends $20,000 damages for racial profiling incident[/url]
Wed, 2011-03-23 17:01
#5
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Appeals+court+backs+rights+panel+rac... Court of Appeal sides with rights commission in racial profiling case[/url]
On Aug. 21, 2003, 16-year-old Fritznol François was sitting on a low, metal fence in front of his apartment building with five friends when police gave him an $85 ticket for infringing a cleanliness bylaw.The Quebec Human Rights Commission called it a flagrant case of racial profiling.
Last week, the Quebec Court of Appeal sided with the commission.
Thu, 2011-05-12 00:05
#6
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Commission+proposes+sweeping+changes... Human Rights Commission proposes sweeping changes to end racial profiling in Quebec[/url]
The commission proposes sweeping changes, including a prohibition on racial profiling in the Quebec Charter of Rights, the Police Act and the police code of ethics; sensitivity training for police, teachers and other employees; hiring of minorities and efforts to eliminate poverty and marginalization.
Thu, 2011-05-12 00:46
#7
RevolutionPlease
/sarcasm. This is going too far!
Fri, 2011-05-13 17:04
#8
The media have been unsuccessful so far in getting the Liberals or the PQ to comment on the commission's report:
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Quebec+politicians+silent+profiling/... politicians silent on profiling[/url]
Accosted at a bus stop, in the park, while crossing the street or at school.With a new report from the Quebec Human Rights Commission in hand, Montrealers are speaking out with tales of racial profiling in everyday places.
And yet Premier Jean Charest and opposition leader Pauline Marois are still silent on the issue. During question period Thursday in the National Assembly, debate centred instead on pork pricing, flooding and the electoral map.
Despite making the front pages of Montreal newspapers, there was radio silence on racial profiling in Quebec City.
"When you can't even get a statement of principle or intent, that's cause for concern," said Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations. "Silence is a very powerful message - unfortunately it's a message of indifference or denial."
Even the ministers for justice and public security have said nothing, Niemi continued, other than that they would study the report.
Mon, 2012-02-06 18:45
#9
This isn't the cops exactly, but it shows the human rights commission is playing a strong role:
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Rights+commission+fines+racial+profi... commission fines Montreal Transit Corporation for racial profiling[/url]
The Quebec human rights commission has sided with a 57-year-old man who says he was singled out and roughed up by métro security guards for being black. It also requested Montreal's public transit agency to stop racial profiling.The commission proposed in a decision made public Jan. 12 that the Société de transport de Montréal pay the man, who asked that he not be named in this story for fear of reprisals, $15,000 in moral damages and $8,000 in punitive damages. The commission also requests that the STM forbid racial profiling when checking commuters for proof of payment of fares and to systematically collect data on the race of people stopped by STM security agents in order to document the use of racial profiling and "take appropriate measures" to end it.
The STM has until Feb. 17 at 3 p.m. to agree to the commission's proposals or the matter will be referred to the courts for legal action intended to implement the proposals, the commission stated.
Tue, 2012-02-07 12:45
#10
Can't find an English report on this yet. I'll translate a bit:
[url=http://tvanouvelles.ca/lcn/judiciaire/archives/2012/02/20120207-104047.h... of Quilem Registre: Family pleased with suspension of the police officers[/url]
It took four years and 10 days of hearing last May and June, but two Montreal cops have been temporarily suspended (20 days and 5 days) for having killed Quilem Registre, age 39, in October 2007, by tasering him six times. He was supposedly intoxicated, aggressive, and had smashed into three parked cars with his car. And for that, the death sentence.
There's a whole lot more to this story over the years, including the movement for justice that has been ongoing.
Let me just add that as a worker who sees workers fired for unbelievably less serious offences, the concept of temporary suspensions in this case makes me sick.
Thu, 2012-03-08 02:31
#11
Reese_Whiterspoon
Is This Surprising?
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The views expressed here are not part of any group or organization.
Black Power
Fri, 2012-09-28 08:21
#12
[url=http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/racial-profiling-victory-for-south-shore-man-... profiling victory for South Shore man[/url]
Joel Debellefeuille feels vindicated after winning a three-year legal battle against Longeuil police for racial profiling.
"I can actually now drive down the street, walk down the street and feel comfortable," said Debellefeuille.
His legal saga began in 2009 and required three court cases before reaching this stage all because police officers repeatedly stopped Debellefeuille while he was driving a new BMW. [...]
When he saw the police report a year later, he took his case directly to the Centre for Research on Race Relations.
That's because the police report said the reason for pulling over Debellefeuille was because the officer had run the plate, and decided that a black man could not have a Quebecois name.
Fri, 2012-09-28 09:35
#13
While some Haitian names are distinctive, there are more than a few that are identical to Québécois francophone names.
I'm not surprised that there is a growing share of such racial discrimination in suburban areas. This is also the case for other kinds of discrimination that are more likely to affect people who can't afford an expensive car, such as housing discrimination - though actually, while most complaints to tenant associations involve people of modest means, we have also seen cases of affluent people of colour or different national origins refused the right to rent or even to buy more expensive dwellings.
This takes some kind of stupidity prize: "Debellefeuille's case went to trial, where Longueuil municipal court judge Marc Gravel rejected the racial profiling case, even though the officer testified in court that he had only stopped Debellefeuille because of his skin colour".
Fri, 2012-09-28 13:47
#14
I found these facts interesting about the black population in Canada. i knew about the demographics of Ontario and thought that Quebec has also had a significant black community. It was the suburban integration that surprised me. I know when my nephew from TO came out to the West Coast to stay with me he often commented on how few other black people there were here but then he grew up in Scarborough in the '80's and 90's.
The Black presence in Canada is primarily an urban phenomenon. The overwhelming majority of Black Canadians live in metropolitan areas such as Toronto and Montréal. Since geographically, according to the 2001 census, some 62% of Blacks live in Ontario and 23% in Quebec, we would expect this high concentration in Toronto and Montréal. Almost 47% of all Black Canadians live in Toronto and 21% in Montréal. This overrepresentation in Toronto and Montréal is a result of historical factors and of the obvious proximity to Black nations in Africa and the Caribbean. (Ottawa-Gatineau and Halifax also have sizeable proportions of Blacks, while the proportions decline in other urban centres.)
The spatial distribution of the Black population in Canada differs markedly from that in the United States, where Blacks are clearly the most segregated group. In Canada Blacks are among the least segregated groups, despite identifiable Black enclaves in Toronto and Montréal. Studies show that Canadian Blacks are much more likely to be spread among the neighborhoods of Toronto and Montréal than other visible minorities, even more than some non-visible minorities, such as Greeks and Portuguese.
Tue, 2012-10-30 22:53
#15
[url=http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10458545]Black man wrongfully arrested[/url]
Nineteen-year-old student Mark Wiles Simpson was minding his own business and talking to his cousin in a park near the McDonald's in St. Laurent where he was going to start his shift when police jumped him, wrestled him to the ground, punching and choking him. Four officers were involved in the October 3 incident.
"I said what's going on, I didn't do anything. They weren't telling me, they weren't answering me, they weren't telling me why I was being arrested," Simpson told a news conference.
Turns out, they thought he was a suspect in the hold up of a nearby SAQ. But he was the wrong man, and police released him with no apology and charged him with obstruction of justice.
Young, black, and a student. Three strikes.
Wed, 2012-10-31 12:13
#16
So its obstructing justice to be in the area of a crime that you might be suspected of but innocent? Hmmmm I'll have to remember that when Im in Montreal tho since Im white Im pretty sure that rule would not apply to me
Assholes
Wed, 2012-10-31 12:41
#17
That is the police mentality everywhere in this country of ours. If a police officer gives you an order no matter how outrageous you as a citizen must immediately comply with that order. if you do not then you are causing a breach of the peace and if they are pursuing a criminal investigation they call it obstruction of justice.
Of course marginalized people are most often the subject of outrageous orders because of the systemic racism and classism in our state security system.
Wed, 2012-10-31 14:00
#18
Yes, that is a horrible story. Hope Mark didn't also get fired from his McJob for not showing up!
And it is so hard to sue the cops.
Sat, 2013-06-01 11:16
#19
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Police+Ethics+Committee+rules+that+o...Police ethics committee rules that officers should be suspended in Farid Charles case[/url]
But:
However, the committee dismissed the racial profiling claim made by Charles and the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations, which sponsored his complaint to the police ethics board, as well as a civil rights suit, still pending, seeking $30,000 in damages from the officers and the City of Montreal.
In rejecting the racial profiling charge, the committee said the police officers stopped Charles before they realized he was black and found insufficient evidence suggesting their conduct was race related.
Sat, 2013-06-01 12:06
#20
How on earth is sitting in a friend's car while he is in a restaurant getting take-out "loitering", to begin with?
"Loitering" is the kind of vague offense that lends itself to racial, class and age profiling. Can anyone imagine a couple of white, upper-middle-class pensioners in Tilley hats being accused of that?
Sat, 2014-02-08 23:47
#21
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Funeral+Alain+Magloire+gives+nuanced... Magloire's funeral[/url]
Pierre Magloire remained poised Saturday as he stood before hundreds in a small chapel, asking them to come forward and share memories of his brother Alain — who was gunned down by Montreal police last Monday.
Since the shooting, Magloire said he’s tried to rebuild his brother’s image so that people don’t remember him simply as an itinerant man who grappled with mental illness in the final months of his life. And so on Saturday, in a packed Longueuil funeral home, a much more nuanced picture of 41-year-old Alain’s life emerged.
Alain, the son of former Haitian Justice Minister René Magloire, was a biochemistry researcher and a teacher who dreamed of curing cerebral palsy. He had two daughters, he played rugby and volunteered with the Quebec Society for Disabled Children. But by the time he was shot, Alain had been living on the streets for months and was desperately trying to cope with an illness that surfaced almost seven years prior.
[...]
“Alain is what you might describe as the perfect victim,” said one of his relatives. “He was dark-skinned and he lived on the streets. Sadly, we live in a society where that counts as two strikes against you.”
Sun, 2014-02-09 01:15
#22
Yes, that also applied to the Iranian refugee who was gunned down by les flics a while back.
In France such police killings are called "bavures". (Blunders, or literally smudges or drips on a page, like we lefthanded people make when writing in pen and ink). Funny how these "errors" tend to affect black and brown people, itinerants and the mentally ill.
That said, I do think the police need more training on how to peacefully subdue a mentally-ill person in crisis who is "acting out".
Tue, 2014-06-17 10:36
#23
[url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Police+Ethics+Committee+rules+that+o...Police ethics committee rules that officers should be suspended in Farid Charles case[/url]
But:
However, the committee dismissed the racial profiling claim made by Charles and the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations, which sponsored his complaint to the police ethics board, as well as a civil rights suit, still pending, seeking $30,000 in damages from the officers and the City of Montreal.
In rejecting the racial profiling charge, the committee said the police officers stopped Charles before they realized he was black and found insufficient evidence suggesting their conduct was race related.
[size=20]BREAKING NEWS:[/size]
The Québec Human Rights Commission has upheld Farid Charles' complaint against the police and awarded him $33,000 in damages!
I'll provide a link when I find one.
Tue, 2014-06-17 20:28
#24
Here we go:
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-police-racially-profiled...
Montreal police racially profiled LaSalle man, Quebec commission rules [/url]
Tue, 2014-06-17 20:40
#25
Waiting for a friend in a car while Black? It is horrible how they targeted this utterly innocent man. I'm glad he stuck with it, as often there is so little concrete to win, under the justice system.
I'm glad someone won some recourse, after the recent stories of the homeless Aboriginal woman tortured in Prince Albert and a Roma teenager in critical condition afer a good old pogrom in the suburbs of Paris: http://npa2009.org/node/41746
Tue, 2014-06-17 20:50
#26
The commission also recommended that the Montreal police department implement training to help prevent future incidents.
I would [i]really[/i] love someone to make a surreptitious video of one of these "training" sessions someday so that we can see what they consist of, and how those in attendance react. "Lesson 1. While black people are suspicious, you should wait until you can make up an articulable reason for suspecting them before you confront them. Lesson 2, always be on the lookout for cameras."
Sun, 2014-09-07 14:57
#27
[size=20]BREAKING NEWS:[/size]
The Québec Human Rights Commission has upheld Farid Charles' complaint against the police and awarded him $33,000 in damages!
I'll provide a link when I find one.
More breaking news - the city refuses to pay. So now it has to go to the tribunal:
[url=http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news/2014/09/07/city-of-montreal-wont-pay-racia... of Montreal won't pay, racial profiling case heads to human rights tribunal[/url]
Mon, 2014-12-22 19:41
#28
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/yves-francoeur-montreal-police-un... of Montreal police frat says 'multi-ethnic' population a risk to officers[/url]
Wed, 2014-12-24 06:03
#29
Québec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir spoke out against that xenophobic crap, as a proud "ethnic" citizen and as a Québec MNA from Montréal:
(From Amir's Facebook page) Un tireur tue deux policiers à New York, disant vouloir venger deux Afro-américains tués par la police. Pourquoi le président de la Fraternité des policiers et policières est-il inquiet que Montréal connaisse la même expérience? Sa réponse à la une du Devoir: « compte tenu de son caractère multiethnique »!
Ces propos sont inacceptables et odieux.
Ni comme fier citoyen « ethnique », encore moins comme député québécois de Montréal, je peux accepter qu'une personne en charge alimente ce genre de préjugés dangereux.
---------
I suppose if I pointed out that young men are the main perps of such violent acts, I'm a man-hating feminist and a hoary old boomer?
Wed, 2014-12-24 10:57
#30
I suppose if I pointed out that young men are the main perps of such violent acts, I'm a man-hating feminist and a hoary old boomer?
I debated with myself before commenting on this comment. But why would you say this in this thread? "Young men", irrespective of colour, are also the victims of profiling by the police, depending on the context. Think of red squares. Or poor neighbourhoods. Or homeless folks. I know you know that. I just don't get the relevance of your comment here.
Wed, 2014-12-24 11:07
#31
alan smithee
I've been the victim of profiling.
I was waiting for a bus at Lionel-Groulx metro and when the bus arrived and I walked toward it,someone grabbed my arm.
The person was not wearing a uniform nor did he identify himself as a cop. I ripped my arm from his grip and another fellow came up and identified himself as a cop.
What reason was there to stop me? Did they have the right to order me to identify myself without any cause? Yes,apparently.
At the time I was a young man with long hair wearing leather and denim. I believe that was the probable cause.
Needless to say,after about 10 minutes of checking throiugh their computer they let me go only to arrest me moments later as I boarded the bus when they found I had an outstanding ticket.
People are profiled. Mostly young men,mostly of colour.People are also profiled by their fashion.
It's nothing new.
Where are the laws to protect people from being profiled? Oh yes,they don't exist,my bad.
Wed, 2014-12-24 12:56
#32
I certainly wasn't denying profiling - yes, often of young men, even if they are from the dominant racial group. People who "look poor" are also profiled.
I was simply talking about those who had committed mediatized violent acts of late (not involving family disputes, jealousy or "criminal outfits"). And the fact that the top cop only mentioned "multiculturalism". Was he also the person who spoke of "mosques"?
Wed, 2014-12-24 13:42
#33
And the fact that the top cop only mentioned "multiculturalism". Was he also the person who spoke of "mosques"?
Yes he was. I heard him on Radio Noon, struggling with his English a bit. He said "mosquée", to which the interviewer replied: "Are you saying mosques??", rather incredulously. And [s]Sanscoeur[/s] Francoeur kept answering, "Oh, we have very good relations with these communities", or words to that effect, over and over.
Wed, 2015-10-28 16:43
#34
A story about this was on As It Happens this evening. They interviewed a black man who was pulled over four times in the same week, and on the fourth time he demanded to speak to a supervisor before he showed his identification. He was eventually served with two tickets, and in the report, the officer wrote that "in his experience" the name of the defendant (a traditionally French name) could not belong to a person of colour, only a Québecois man.
Joel de Bellefeuille (the man referred to above) says it has never stopped. Today's news:
[url=http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/south-shore-man-says-police-continue-to-unfai... Shore man says police continue to unfairly target him[/url]
A South Shore man who has been the victim of racial profiling by Longueuil police is filing a new complaint against the force.
Joel De Bellefeuille's legal saga began in 2009 when officers repeatedly stopped him while driving a new BMW.
Fed up with the unjustified harassment, De Bellefeuille took Longueuil police to court and won.
The officers involved admitted the only reason they had for stopping De Bellefeuille was because they did not think a black man could have a "Quebecois name."
The police ethics commission reprimanded the two officers involved, and each was suspended without pay for five days.
New De Bellefeuille is lodging a new complaint, because three years after his victory police continue to stop him while driving.
Wed, 2015-10-28 17:48
#35
alan smithee
Minorities,the poor,long hairs etc...All profiled.
I was profiled 20 years ago while waiting for a bus. The police had no business demanding my identification but you're really left with no choice. Had I refused,I would have just invited more trouble.
I think that the police should follow the law and the Charter. Profiling of any kind is a tool of a police state. I'm somewhat surprised that we don't have an official 'stop and frisk' policy yet.
But going back to identification,what do you suppose would happen if you asked a police officer for their I.D.?
I hope De Bellefeuille sues and wins big. In fact,I'd like to see a class action lawsuit against the police.
ETA ; THIS is how rogue police officers should be dealt with.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/sheriff-fires-officer-recorded-tossing-stude...
Tue, 2015-12-22 20:21
#36
It never stops here.
[url=http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-an-apparent-case... An apparent case of "driving while black"[/url]
John Chilcott was stopped by Châteauguay police last week as he prepared to drive his two youngest children to school. What should have been a routine traffic stop — if that — devolved into a confrontation in which an officer pepper sprayed Chilcott in his vehicle, parked outside his home. Chilcott’s daughters, ages 6 and 10, suffered the indignity of watching from the back seat, plus ill effects of the residual spray.
Chilcott, 43, has a steady job and no criminal record. He has no doubt he is the victim of racial profiling. He says police have stopped him at least three times in recent years and asked that he identify himself. He says last week’s altercation escalated when he refused, because he first wanted to know why he was being stopped.
For their part, Châteauguay police stated Chilcott “refused to collaborate following a Highway Safety Code infraction.” They mailed three tickets to his home. One was for obstructing the work of a police officer and another for failing to turn off his engine after he was pulled over. The third was for having turned on his hazard lights “unnecessarily,” when he slowed his vehicle in the left lane to address the friend of one of his daughters at a bus stop.
It seems unlikely that a white, middle-aged driver would have been pulled over in similar circumstances, or if he were, that such an intervention would have ended in a cloud of pepper spray, which police in Quebec are permitted to use only if they feel threatened — plus $1,068 worth of tickets.
Wed, 2015-12-23 14:27
#37
I'm in favour of communities taking matters into their own hands. The police should be taught that they cannot act with impunity.
Wed, 2015-12-23 14:36
#38
alan smithee
I remember when Chateauguay had about 3 police cars and only a handful of police. Funny how as the force gets larger,the smaller your rights become.
Wed, 2015-12-23 16:51
#39
John Chilcott was stopped by Châteauguay police last week as he prepared to drive his two youngest children to school. What should have been a routine traffic stop — if that — devolved into a confrontation in which an officer pepper sprayed Chilcott in his vehicle, parked outside his home. Chilcott’s daughters, ages 6 and 10, suffered the indignity of watching from the back seat, plus ill effects of the residual spray.
Chilcott, 43, has a steady job and no criminal record. He has no doubt he is the victim of racial profiling. He says police have stopped him at least three times in recent years and asked that he identify himself. He says last week’s altercation escalated when he refused, because he first wanted to know why he was being stopped.
For their part, Châteauguay police stated Chilcott “refused to collaborate following a Highway Safety Code infraction.” They mailed three tickets to his home. One was for obstructing the work of a police officer and another for failing to turn off his engine after he was pulled over. The third was for having turned on his hazard lights “unnecessarily,” when he slowed his vehicle in the left lane to address the friend of one of his daughters at a bus stop.
It seems unlikely that a white, middle-aged driver would have been pulled over in similar circumstances, or if he were, that such an intervention would have ended in a cloud of pepper spray, which police in Quebec are permitted to use only if they feel threatened — plus $1,068 worth of tickets.
I'm not a legal expert but (Ithink) he screwed by failing to provide ID, which gave the police the legal room to escalate the situation. You don't need to carry ID if you're out walking (unless it's a city bilaw) but if you're operating a vehicle you need to provide ID and a licence. You have the right to know if you are being detained or not (and if you're not you can leave) but in this case the man would have to provide the ID and proof of licence before they can get into the whole "are you detaining me, am I detained?" stuff.
There are a lot of little laws that police can use to punish people with. I can't remember what it's called but telling a cop to fuck off can get you fined. something about swearing in public. Failing to turn off his engine? I'm guessing that is after the police told him to do so but that with the 4 way hazzard thing just seems punitive. Unless the man was completely beligerant pepper spraying him in a car infront of his kids (especially with them present) seems like an asshole thing to do.
Wed, 2015-12-23 17:09
#40
Paladin, this is the anti racism forum. This sounds like you're providing justifications for police pepper spraying a black man for a traffic stop. This is not something that's going to fly here. I am whiter than Pat Boone's butt cheek on a slice of wonder bread, and I can tell you there is no way this would have happened to me. The crux of the matter is that is a racist motivated attack.
Wed, 2015-12-23 17:18
#41
Shit sorry I didn't mean to sound like that. I was trying to talk about the technical aspect of refusing to comply with the police but yes I think you're 100% right that wouldn't have happened to you or me. It sounds racist and punitive.
Wed, 2015-12-23 17:18
#42
Please watch the two short video clips in this report on the above incident. Bravo to the Montreal Gazette for showing the truth and giving some voice to the victims.
Fo Niemi of CRARR (Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations) is now on the file. Hopefully justice will be done.
Wed, 2015-12-23 17:37
#43
Not hard to imagine dressing like cowboys has gone to their head.
Mon, 2016-04-04 22:23
#44
And on it goes.
Another Black life taken by the Montreal police: Collateral damage in a racist ‘war on drugs’
Jean-Pierre Bony, a 47-year-old Black man, was shot in the head by a rubber bullet by the tactical squad of the Service de la police de Montréal (SPVM) in Montréal-Nord over the weekend. He died this morning in the hospital. It occurred during a minor drug-bust, and numerous witnesses report he was un-armed and posed no physical threat to law enforcement.Since the story broke, media outlets have already begun to justify the violent intervention and resulting fatal injury because marijuana was found at the site . Yet it appears there two different sets of rules for white and Black-skinned persons in Canada. Amidst general public acceptance of cannabis use, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s well-received plan to decriminalize marijuana, those who grow and sell cannabis are preparing themselves to be legitimate businesspersons, and are represented as burgeoning entrepreneurs in the media. Cannabis is sold ‘for medical purposes’, in storefronts all over the island of Vancouver.
But Black Canadians are still vilified and represented as dangerous criminals for their perceived or real involvement with the same substance. Black communities continue to be subjected to highly orchestrated, militarized police raids by tactical squads and SWAT teams. Black individuals thought to be involved the distribution of cannabis continue to be seen as deserving of any police violence inflicted upon them, up to and including injury and death. Jean-Pierre Bony is dead because of a bust surrounding a substance used recreationally by large numbers of Canadians, across race and class; yet his tragic and unjustifiable death has so far been represented as a minor detail. Black life, after all, is cheap in Canada, and Montreal is not exempt.
Tue, 2016-04-05 05:40
#45
A friend phoned me yesterday to ask if I'd heard the story (I hadn't seen it, as it was overshadowed by yet another Québec Liberal government corruption scandal). It is ghastly, and ridiculous that this had happened over cannabis sales. In this case, it seems utterly clear that this would never have happened to an unarmed, middle-aged white man.
Does anyone know if any mobilisations are planned? By the way, there is a mayoral election upcoming in Montréal-Nord. http://projetmontreal.org/mtlnord/
I always thought the main purpose of the Châteauguay police was to harass Mohawk people from Kahnawake...
Tue, 2016-10-04 21:42
#46
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/racial-profiling-police-montreal-... profiling cases against Montreal police face long delays[/url]
The Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission is facing calls to explain why racial profiling complaints against Montreal police are taking up to seven years to be addressed. [...]Victor Whyte was 15-years-old when he said police left him bloodied after accusing him of getting on a city bus without paying.
He said he was eating at McDonald's with some friends and the group was being a bit loud. The manager called police, who arrived soon after and told the teens to leave.
The officers ordered them to board a city bus and Whyte was the last to get on. That's when he said an officer grabbed him.
"Police yanked me off the bus. Ripped my shirt. I had two earrings and one ripped out. I had blood all over my shirt," Whyte told CBC News.
Police told him he hadn't paid for the bus, but Whyte said he had a bus pass.
Part of the incident was caught on video, which Whyte's mother said left her shaken.
"When I look at the video and see what the police have done to my child, I feel so sick. I feel so hurt. And I feel like they get away with it," Heather Whyte said.
Another complaint that's been in limbo for years came from Marcus Gordon in 2011.
He said he was jaywalking with a large crowd after a concert let out at the Metropolis concert hall on Ste-Catherine Street when police stopped him.
Gordon alleged police ignored the others who were jaywalking and went directly for him.
He said he also once had police surround his car and point a gun in his face before realizing he wasn't the person they were after.
Sat, 2016-11-19 11:06
#47
Racial profiling. Every day, in every way. Hard to imagine how this mother feels, but so grateful that she is speaking out.
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/teen-death-cote-saint-luc-21st-ho... of 17-year-old in Côte Saint-Luc ruled homicide: Victim's mother upset police jumped the gun, releasing theory her son died following botched robbery[/url]
Montreal police now say the death of a 17-year-old youth following an altercation in Côte-Saint-Luc Thursday night was a homicide. Police no longer believe the teen was killed while trying to rob a young woman.
Police initially said the 17-year-old fell and hit his head while he and a 15-year-old accomplice were trying to rob a 19-year-old woman in front of a condominium building at the corner of Westminster Avenue and Westover Road at about 7:45 pm. [...]
The mother of the 17-year-old victim said she was told very little about how her son had been injured when she met police at the hospital.
She only learned of the initial robbery hypothesis later Thursday night, when a friend of her son's showed her a news article.
"It's not a finished investigation, but yet they were comfortable releasing that this child committed a robbery, and it's a robbery gone wrong," she said.
She said investigators later told her that police were treating her son's death as a homicide, even as the official story from police was still one of a botched robbery.
The mother is concerned that police may have jumped to conclusions about her son — who is black — and released information too quickly.
"I'm accustomed to hearing this for young black males," she said. "It doesn't feel like they were trying to really get the truth first and put it out."
"I think it was just like, 'Well, most likely this is what he is, and this is what most likely happened.'"
Sat, 2016-11-19 11:47
#48
Yes, and these are the guys investigating the SQ. No proof, but by any chance were the supposed robbery victim and the other young man white, and the dead youth and his friend black (or otherwise of colour)?
Babblers need not speak French to "get" this Le Devoir cartoon about the Montréal Police investigating the SQ ... and vice-versa
http://www.ledevoir.com/photos/galeries-photos/les-caricatures-de-garnot...
Mon, 2016-11-21 18:33
#49
The young man who was allegedly murdered, after being accused of killing himself during an attempted robbery:
http://montrealgazette.com/news/slain-n-d-g-teen-remembered-as-a-great-r...
Fri, 2017-01-13 23:32
#50
More crimes of this criminal thug come to light. And typically for cops, she manages to escape prison. She quit the force. Heavens!
[url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/officer-728-stefanie-trudeau-star... Officer 728, Stéfanie Trudeau, took man on 'starlight tour,' says complainant[/url]
The Quebec Human Rights Commission is proposing the City of Montreal and two police officers involved in a 2012 incident pay $40,000 in damages to a man who says he was violently arrested and then taken on a "starlight tour."
Julian Menezes, who is of South Asian descent, said the policewoman involved was the former Montreal officer known by her badge number, 728 — Stéfanie Trudeau.
The Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR), which handled Menezes' complaint, said Menezes was arrested, driven to a place far away, in a district he wasn't familiar with, and "released in the North end of the island at 3:30 a.m. without the means to get home."
Trudeau's partner at the time of the incident, Constantinos Samaras, is cited for failing to identify himself and for "failure to intervene to stop Trudeau's actions," according to a news release from CRARR.
Menezes called it a "traumatic episode," adding that Trudeau used racial slurs against him and threatened him with violence.
Trudeau first gained notoriety after she was caught on video pepper-spraying protesters during the 2012 student protests. She was later found guilty of assault in a separate incident, for using excessive force during an arrest.
Thu, 2017-02-16 21:42
#51
[url=http://montreal.ctvnews.ca/human-rights-commission-orders-police-officer... Rights Commission orders police officer to pay victim $17,000[/url]
In February 2009, Victor White, who was 15 at the time, was thrown out of a bus on Newman Blvd. in LaSalle by a black police officer. [...]He and his friends had been kicked out of a nearby McDonalds because they were making too much noise. The group decided to get on a bus and leave the area.
White, who had a monthly pass, boarded the 106 from the back door, which is against STM regulations but is not uncommon when it is cold, snowy, or the bus is full.
"I got onto the bus, I hung on to the pole and I was talking to my friend and the next thing I know I felt someone grab me and I was like whoa, whoa, whoa. I looked back and it was the police so I let go," said White.
White said the officer threw him off the bus into the snow. He said the officer pulled his left arm, handcuffed him, and stepped on his stomach, ripped out his earring, then dragged him into the police car.
"I was bleeding a lot. I had blood all over my shirt," said White.
White was given a $118 fine for boarding the bus without paying and charged with obstruction of justice.
In 2010 he was acquitted. The Crown appealed the case and lost. [...]
White says years later he still finds it difficult to trust police.
“It seems like I’m always a suspect. They treat every black guy who drives a nice car as a suspect,” he said. “It’s scary. It’s happened to a few of my friends. I didn’t think it would ever happen to me again but it has. I was shocked by it.”
White said he was pulled over last month in front of Simons department store without cause – a case of driving while black, he said – and claims he was rearrested without merit.
The Human Rights Commission ruling is not binding, and the police will likely ignore it. The next step will be for the Commission to submit the matter to the Human Rights Tribunal, which can issue a binding judgment.
Many thanks to Fo Niemi and his organization (CRARR -Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations) for their dogged pursuit of cases like this.