Security guard told to block view of Dziekanski after Taser incident
A security guard at Vancouver's airport was ordered by his supervisor to block the view of the public and a bystander's video camera as RCMP officers restrained Robert Dziekanski shortly after the Polish man was stunned with a Taser, a public inquiry heard Monday.
Fabian D'Sa told the inquiry into Dziekanski's death that he arrived as the man was writhing on the floor of the airport's international arrivals lounge in the early morning of Oct. 14, 2007.
D'Sa testified that his supervisor, Trevor Enchelmaier, told him to stand in front of a glass wall, partially blocking the view of bystanders, as three police officers continued to restrain the man.
"To have some privacy," D'Sa testified when asked why, on a witness's video, he is seen walking into the centre of the frame. "Mr. Robert [Dziekanski]'s privacy."
'Grabbing the stapler, yeah, I can't remember the swinging, I can't remember that part.' — Sidharth Arora, witness to Taser incident
Outside the inquiry, D'Sa repeatedly referred questions to the airport's lawyer, but interrupted when a reporter asked why he blocked the view of what happened.
"If it was you, I would have done the same thing," D'Sa said.
"I would have given you privacy as well, because you're an individual. It's not just Robert, it's everyone. It's a question of, you don't want to see yourself weeks later on YouTube."
On the video, D'Sa only stays in position for about 30 seconds before walking away, he said, to meet firefighters outside the airport.
Altogether, D'Sa said, he was at the scene for less than a minute but saw officers' efforts to restrain Dziekanski.
"He was still pinned down, there was a lot of activity," said D'Sa, who appeared upset recalling what happened, bowing his head with his eyes closed throughout his testimony.
One of three officers hovering over Dziekanski was on top of the man, he testified.
"The other [officer] on his right, with his knee still on his shoulder-blade, neck area," he said. "It was the neck and back area, on the right-hand side."
When D'Sa left his spot at the glass wall, entered a set of secure doors leading to the arrivals area and passed by the officers, he said Dziekanski had stopped moving.
In fact, several witnesses have testified that after this moment, no one saw Dziekanski move again.
Another security guard, Sidharth Arora, told police in the hours after the incident that Dziekanski was aggressive and appeared to be threatening to throw a stapler.
But 16 months later, Arora could remember almost nothing about Dziekanski's confrontation with police.
Arora told the inquiry on Monday he was having tea with co-workers when they heard a radio transmission about a disturbance, but waited until a second broadcast to respond.
He said he saw the man pacing back and forth behind a set of secure doors, and when the four RCMP officers arrived, he saw Dziekanski pick up a stapler from a desk just before the Taser was used.
Arora said he doesn't remember much else about what happened, but told police less than an hour after the incident that Dziekanski was being aggressive.
"I believe he grabbed the stapler and he was trying to throw it at some of the officers," he said he told investigators at the time.
However, Arora told the inquiry that now he can't remember that happening.
"Grabbing the stapler, yeah, I can't remember the swinging, I can't remember that part," he said.
A video of the incident doesn't appear to show Dziekanski doing anything with the stapler.
However, Dziekanski's back is to the camera and his hands, which appear to be down by his waist, are obstructed from view by a desk.
The question of what Dziekanski was doing with the stapler prior to being shocked by the RCMP officers has become central at the inquiry.
The officers will testify at the inquiry later this month.