A man who sued the city of Montreal for $375,000 for police brutality during a 2012 protest has had his case dismissed.
Judge Danielle Mayrand ruled last week in Quebec Superior Court that Gabriel Duchesneau was not able to show any fault on the part of police.
Mayrand said that Duchesneau not able to present a consistent version of events that led to his injury, and that he was partially responsible for what took place.
The judge said that Duchesneau gave four different explanations for where he was hurt, pointed out that his injuries were not consistent with what was reported by paramedics, and there were multiple contradictions between what witnesses stated and video of the protest.
Duchesneau, 34, was a regular protester, attending roughly 150 protests from February 2012 to June 2012.
On May 1, 2012 Duchesneau was taking part in an anti-police-brutality protest organized by CLAC, the Convergence of anti-capitalist struggles-Montreal, something he had done every year since 2005.
The protest became violent, as it often does, and Duchesneau testified that he was hit with a baton and a shield on his head. He suffered a concussion and said he suffered permanent injury because of it.
He was claiming damages of $375,000 and his mother was asking for $75,000.
However despite his concussion, Duchesneau participated in three more protests over the next three weeks.
The judge also pointed out that Duchesneau does not hold a full-time job, only working seasonally as a tour guide, and that he could not prove his injuries would prevent him from doing so.
