New details are emerging in the case of an Ottawa man who died after an altercation with police.
Abdirahman Abdi, 37, was killed in front of his apartment building after police responded to a nearby harassment call on Sunday.
Friends said Abdi suffered from mental illness.
Audio from the paramedics’ dispatch call has now been released. On the tape, a paramedic can be heard calling for backup as Abdi was VSA, or vital signs absent.
On Thursday, protesters gathered in Montreal’s Bethune Square to condemn the actions of the Ottawa police and speak out against police violence.
Montreal Noir spokesperson Robyn Maynard said they wanted to draw attention to the ways in which race can intersect with disability to make some people more at risk of being targeted.
“The people that are actually most vulnerable, the people that need the most protection are people who are actually even more at risk of extreme police violence. If you mix the combination of anti-black racism and the way especially people with disabilities are perceived and treated, you see there’s often just a shoot-to-kill policy or in this case they just violently beat him until he died. It’s just horrific.”
For Marlihian Lopez, whose son has autism, the death of Abdi was deeply personal. Friends have said Abdi suffered from mental illness.
"I worry every day that he's going to face come type of brutality because of the colour of his skin and the way his brain works," said Lopez.
The protesters marched to a downtown police station where they stood for a moment of silence.
Will Propser, an activist and former RCMP officer, said it is important for Canadians to realize police violence is not something that only happens in the United States.
"To make sure we prevent other killings, we prevent racism, we prevent systemic racism that's going on here in Canada and we need to take a look at it, we need to be a better society," he said.
