Driving while Black: Court rules lawyer was racially profiled by police

A Quebec judge has ruled a Black man was racially profiled by Montreal police (SPVM) officers during a downtown traffic stop.

On Jan. 28, 2021, at 6 p.m., lawyer Kwadwo Yeboah and his 15-year-old daughter were driving on René-Lévesque Boulevard in a white Mercedes registered to his wife's company.

He was stopped at an intersection when two officers spotted him and decided to follow him for a few blocks before turning on their flashing lights, pulling him over and asking for his papers.

According to court documents, the officers said they thought the licence might be fake but their patrol car wasn't equipped with a computer to do the necessary checks.

They called in for back-up and two more patrol cars arrived.

The judgement notes the officers asked Yeboah questions about where he was going and who the car belonged to -- questions the judge said were "not relevant."

Despite the fact that Yeboah's licence was valid, he was swiftly arrested for providing a false licence, handcuffed and put in the back of one of the patrol cars.

The officers also claimed they thought he was using a cellphone while driving and he was charged with contravening section 443.1 of the Quebec Highway Safety Code.

The judge concluded that the officers' behaviour during the intervention showed clear indications that Yeboah was being racially profiled.

In addition, the judgement shows that one of the officers was wearing a body camera that recorded the incident.

Though she shared the footage with colleagues via WhatsApp, that video, along with surveillance footage from a nearby hotel, was never recorded into evidence.

"The withholding of body camera footage is a serious denial of justice and an indicator of conscious racial profiling," the judgement concluded. "The withholding of surveillance footage from the hotel is a serious denial of justice and an indicator of conscious racial profiling."

CTV News reached out to Montreal police for comment, and the force acknowledged the court's decision.

"As in any other court case, there is a 30-day time limit to appeal a decision," the force stated. "We will take the time to analyze it and let the legal process take its course. We will not make any further comments at this time."