Montreal business owner claims police keep invading her salon because she is Black
A Montreal woman is speaking out after she says police unlawfully searched her hair salon last week.
Stephanie Odia claims authorities have targetted her business at least once a month since she opened last November, simply because she is Black.
Thursday, Odia says she was finishing up with her last client of the day when police on bicycles showed up.
"They came in, they didn't say, 'hi,' and they start following my brother, who was taking out the trash," she tells CTV News, adding they asked if she was selling alcohol and if she had a terrace.
Odia states when she said, 'no,' the officers asked to see the back of the salon.
She says she complied, fearing for her brother's safety in light of the ongoing slayings of Black men by police.
"Just seeing police following him, not saying anything, I was just scared," she said. "I saw the other police trying to look for a reaction from my brother. I just wanted them to leave, so I complied with everything that they told me."
Odia shared surveillance footage from her store on Instagram; it has since been viewed over 30,000 times.
"Oftentimes, we think that these things don't happen here in Canada and Montreal, but it happens a lot," she argues.
In the video, one of the officers lingers, looking around, while her client patiently waits in the chair.
Odia alleges the cops then asked her for a piece of identification, but never explained what brought them into her salon in the first place.
"The only way individuals are supposed to identify themself, it's if police have probable cause that a crime is being committed or they are on the way to commit a crime," explains lawyer Kwadwo Yeboah, adding he, too, believes this is a case of racial profiling.
Yeboah is no stranger to alleged racial profiling, having filed his own complaint last February after he says he was handcuffed in front of his teenage daughter during what should have been a routine traffic stop.
Odia admits she often sees patrollers peering through her front window or calling the salon to inquire about her permits, adding the constant police presence isn't helping her small business thrive.
"We’re not bothering anyone. We are working, like everyone else. We serve customers, we pay taxes like everyone else. So, our rights should be respected like everyone else," she argued. "It’s sad, but we must speak about it and denounce it as well."
CTV News reached out to Montreal police, who would only say that the officers noticed something that could have been an infraction related to the selling of alcohol.
The force would not go into further detail about what, where or who noticed the alleged violation. However, police spokesperson Julien Lévesque confirmed that the file has been transferred to an investigator.
"[There's an] SAQ just beside her store that sells alcohol and these bottles could have come from them putting them in the garbage, but they saw her Black brother putting out garbage and they just followed him into the barbershop," Yeboah states.
Odia says she plans to file a complaint with the police ethics commissioner, as well as the Human Rights Commission in the coming days.
"I can’t say it won’t keep happening, but today we are in a movement. We speak a lot about Black Lives Matter, but that can’t be limited to a black square on social media," she said. "It’s also really about speaking up about these situations of injustice, like what has happened here. Maybe this can give hope to other business owners, that we have the right to speak out and to stand up for our rights as well."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.