**There is a rally called to remember Sammy Yatim being organized this Sunday May 25, 2014, starting at Dundas Square at 12:30 pm.
The shooting of Sammy Yatim:
If it were up to me, nine shots into one person would mean nine murder charges, not just one.
That police officer who unloaded his weapon in rock and roll style, Toronto police Constable James Forcillo, should be accountable to a higher level of societal decency and right-action due to his rank in society. Thus, he should not be back at work in any capacity, even though he was cleared to do so by the Toronto Police. He was previously on suspension with pay.
This is not about ‘he’s innocent until proven guilty’ but rather as a matter of public safety and a necessary cooling off period for Torontonians who were so shocked and horrified at the shooting of an eighteen year old Sammy Yatim.
That said, Constable James Forcillo has been charged with second-degree murder last summer in regards to shooting Yatim to death on an empty street car, eight of the nine bullets fired from Constable Forcillo’s gun struck and killed the Toronto teenager.
At the time, Yatim was pacing the streetcar looking distraught. He allegedly held a small knife in his hands.
At some point he walked up to the front of the streetcar perhaps because he couldn’t hear what the police were commanding him to do. Until trial, we won’t know. And the preliminary hearing in subject to a publication ban.
First there were three shots, then a pause, then another six. Officers were yelling at Yatim to drop the knife. Yatim can be heard yelling back.
Yatim was also tasered twice after he had been shot eight times. Maybe that was the guilt-laden attempt at CPR?
Nine bullets to bring down Yatim, a wisp of a teenager just about to reach adulthood?
His family and friends going through his possessions afterwards, journals, computer logs and phone texts and found nothing to explain his actions.
That’s all the public knows for now, thanks to the multiple tapes made by bystanders. Citizen journalist as its best.
And no, I’m not going to gloss over the fact that Yatim was allegedly carrying a small knife, nor that some have made the accusation that the teenager wanted to suicide himself though death by cop.
I’m not going to omit that, at the time he was on the Dundas St. Streetcar, he was caring a small knife.
I should also note that while aboard the street car full of passengers that fateful night on July 27, 2013, he willingly let all the potential hostages go. After he had done so, Yatim paced the length of the street car and back, shouting.
But don’t just rely on me, see for yourself [Warning: the video shows acts of police brutality and violence]
It scares me right to the bone to think what would have happened if no one watching or recording the event. One of the best things an activist and even normal folk can do is carry around a cell phone with a video camera or a video camera by itself. It has been said in the US, “Cameras are the cops’ worst enemies”
The Trial:
So far, the slow moving wheels of justice have taken us to the arrest and preliminary hearing in the case against Toronto Police Constable, James Forcillo. A six year veteran of the force, he was eventually named as the officer who pulled the trigger and killed Yatim.
Constable James Forcillo was charged with second degree murder on August 19, 2013. This was mostly due to public pressure and the release of the videos. He turned himself in the next morning with his lawyer at his side.
A Special Investigative Unit (SIU) press release, regarding Case Number #13-TFD-181, stated,
“Earlier today, SIU Director Ian Scott caused a charge of Second Degree Murder contrary to s. 235(1) of the Criminal Code to be laid against the officer in relation to the shooting death of 18-year-old Sammy Adib Yatim. The incident took place on a TTC streetcar around midnight on July 26-27, 2013”
Appearing at Old City Hall, Constable Forcillo was released from custody on $510,000 bail.
Forcillo’s lawyer, Peter Brauti, commented that his client should be considered innocent until proven guilty. He said, “he’s not going to run or hide. He’s going to walk out the front door and he’s going to go home.”
Defiantly, Constable Forcillo is back at work.
Immediately after the shooting, Toronto Police Chief, Bill Blair, suspended Constable Forcillo with pay, as this is mandated by Ontario provincial legislation. It was actually back in February, 2014, that he was back at work though the public only recently found out – without his gun nor his uniform, both stripped from him by Blair – doing restricted administrative tasks at a desk job at Toronto Police headquarters on 40 College Street. His duties include working for the Crime Stoppers project.
This preliminary inquiry is scheduled to run until May 9, 2014, and then continue from June 16-20.
On top of secondary murder charges, a charge of discreditable conduct against Constable Forcillo under the Police Services Act has been shelved until the conclusion of the criminal case.
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