New video shows Montreal police used excessive force during arrest, couple says
'This is excessive force. There’s absolutely no doubt about it,' says retired RCMP officer
A Montreal couple says a newly released video confirms police used excessive force while arresting them earlier this year.
Brian Mann and Tayana Jacques each received a $444 ticket for excessive noise and were charged with obstruction of justice after the incident on St-Laurent Boulevard in April.
The video, released by the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) and shot by a bystander, starts as police arrest Mann and focuses on his arrest.
CBC News was unable to verify if the beginning of the incident was edited out of the video prior to be being published on the nonprofit organization's Facebook page. Montreal police have refused to comment on the case.
In the video, police grabbed Mann and threw him to the ground. Six officers pinned him to the cement with their knees and hands. He was eventually pepper sprayed while on the ground.
This video was sent to CBC by CRARR. It does not show the moments leading up to Mann's arrest.
Jacques, who is of Haitian descent, is seen being held against a nearby police cruiser by at least three officers, screaming about her rights.
"I want to close my eyes and forget it ever happened," she said in an interview. Her boyfriend described watching the video as "traumatic."
The couple says the incident started on as they were getting coffee on a Saturday morning. On their way there, a police cruiser stopped them.
Jacques says the police claimed they were speaking too loudly.
CRARR helped the couple file complaints with the Montreal police ethics commissioner and the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission, and CRARR's lawyer will be representing the couple in court.
Fo Niemi, CRARR's executive director, issued a statement Tuesday saying his organization believes the fact that Jacques is black played a role in the way the situation escalated to the violent arrest, hefty fines and criminal charges.
"It fits the pattern of police profiling and treatment of black people and people who are associated with them," he said.
Video paints a different picture, couple says
The video shows there are "serious discrepancies" in the police officers' incident reports, Niemi said.
According to CRARR, the report states there were four arresting officers on Mann, but the video shows there were six.
CRARR also says the video shows Mann was not aggressive, did not resist arrest and was not laughing hysterically after he was taken down.
The police report also says Mann resisted arrest and reached for an officer's belt, but Mann denies doing any of that.
Alain Babineau, a CRARR advisor and a retired RCMP officer with nearly 30 years on the force, said discrepancies between the police accounts, the video and a witness account "throw the police version of the incident into serious disrepute."
He questioned the amount of force officers used.
"What we're seeing here is a tremendous amount of physical force used by police officers over what really amounts to a municipal bylaw violation," he said. "This is excessive force. There's absolutely no doubt about it."
The couple says they want the arresting officers to be held accountable and for the charges to be dropped.
"I'd like to know that the next time any black person leaves their house, they shouldn't have to worry about getting arrested for laughing out loud in the street," Jacques said.
With files from Navneet Pall