Montreal police said there's no plan for a formal investigation after video surfaced Monday of a rough arrest that took place during Friday's May Day protests.
A video shows a young man named Xavier Amodeo apparently being punched in the face several times as officers try to place him under arrest.
Eyewitness Clauderic Saint-Amand had just left a yoga class on Friday afternoon when he spotted Amodeo sitting on Hutchison St. near Sherbrooke St. near an anti-capitalism demonstration.
Saint-Amand said Amodeo was resisting by sitting down on the sidewalk, crossing his arms as a form of peaceful protest, as a second video shows
According to Saint-Amand, when Amodeo stood up and started to walk toward the protest, police moved in and grabbed him, with one officer striking him several times in the face.
"He was sitting on the ground with his hands up, in a sign of peace," said Saint-Amand, who filmed the arrest as he was going past the scene. “He looked a bit like my son. I am a father, and it did attract my attention.”
Saint-Amand said police exaggerated the use of force.
“You could see his face and he had nothing in his hands, no weapons, and you could see he was alone,” he said.
Amodeo said he resisted arrest because he felt he had done nothing wrong. On his Facebook page, he wrote:
"I consider myself lucky, because right now, hundreds and thousands, including my family and my parents can see the events that preceded my arrest on May 1... but I must remind everyone that these events are not isolated."
There were dozens of small protests around Montreal on May 1, International Workers' Day, with a large protest began in the downtown core around 7 p.m. organized by the anti-capitalist group CLAC.
Police arrested 84 participants in that protest and recommending 27 face criminal charges such as mischief and obstructing the work of a police officer.
The Montreal police have been criticized for their handling of the march by anti-capitalist protesters last Friday.
Several bystanders in downtown Montreal claim they were pepper-sprayed indiscriminately.
The Montreal police say they're reviewing the incident.
“We just got one side of the story. We need the second side of the story and that's why today we're careful with that. I want the second side before deciding if there will be a full and complete investigation,” said Montreal police spokesperson Ian Lafreniere.
Lafreniere does admit, however the images don't reflect well on the police force.
“We’re not saying that the officer has done the right thing but the video and the image – it's not good in terms of image,” he said. “In some cases it's going to happen when a police officer is going to have to punch someone in the face. It's going to happen, unfortunately.”
According to John Abbott CEGEP police technology program coordinator Paul Chablo, the actions of the officers involve do merit an investigation, because the suspect wasn't acting confrontational.
“This was not any type of aggressive resisting on the part of the individual, which is why I think the police department should investigate further,” he said.
Punching, he said, is a last resort technique when the officer is directly attacked.
