Montrealers allege 'racial profiling' during police intervention on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day
Organizers of a Montreal Caribbean festival are looking for clarity from police as to why a large group of officers interrupted their pre-festival barbecue on Saint-Jean Baptiste Day.
"It was like a swarm of bees," said party organizer Gemma Raeburn-Baynes, vice-president of the Spice Island Cultural Day Association of Quebec.
While police say they were there to investigate a noise complaint, organizers told CTV they were puzzled and disappointed by the police presence, which they felt was unusually large as compared to their party.
In a video sent to CTV News, several Montreal officers, as well as others from the RCMP, are seen speaking to partygoers in front of several police vehicles parked nearby the venue – a restaurant parking lot off Saint-Jacques Street in Lachine.
"To me, I think I think it was racial profiling," said Raeburn-Baynes, who estimated there were about 15 officers at the intervention.
"It just didn’t make sense and even if as I said, the first cop said it was two complaints of noise. I mean, it was 8:30, it was St-Jean Baptist. Everybody in their backyard was having an event."
She suggested that if there really was an issue with noise, they could have sent one police car to ask them to turn down the music "and be on their merry way."
She says police arrived at around 8:40 p.m. on June 24. The party was a fundraiser for the Spice Island Cultural Festival set to commence next weekend. People had gathered to barbeque and celebrate the holiday. Raeburn-Baynes said they were not selling alcohol.
"Children were playing in the yard, parents were there, mothers and fathers and seniors and young people, and they got scared (by the officers)," she said. "It was really disheartening. It killed the party, we had such good vibes."
A DJ was there, but “the music was not excessive,” she said, adding that partygoers could hear music coming from other Saint-Jean parties nearby over their own.
"I don’t know if I’m too sensitive," she said, "but I really thought that it was because we were Black and we were gathered together.”
“It was really disheartening. It killed the party,” she added. “After the police left, everybody left. The DJ turned off his music and packed up his stuff.”
Montreal police confirmed officers “went to an establishment on Saint-Jacques St.” in a statement to CTV.
"After having made the organizer of the event aware of the noise in the parking lot of the establishment, the officers left the premises without issuing any statement of offence," read the statement.
Among those responding officers were members of the ÉCLIPSE unit, which specializes in fighting violent crime. Montreal’s police department says they were there as part of an over-arching strategy to increase "the population’s sense of security."
"As part of the CENTAURE strategy, police officers from the ÉCLIPSE unit, accompanied by partners from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), make sporadic visits to various bars and restaurants in the city," read the statement.
"The ECLIPSE unit provides support to the units, collects information and intelligence, and increases police visibility and the population's sense of security."
But this intervention didn’t achieve that goal, according to Alain Babineau, spokesperson and coordinator on issues of racial profiling and public safety for anti-racism group The Red Coalition.
"The way they went about it is totally counter-productive to any form of community policing,” he said. “(It’s) counter-productive any type of community relations that you’re trying to establish."
Babineau called the intervention an example of “over-policing.”
"'Over-policing' is simply an iteration of racial profiling, where a particular community is over-policed with this belief that they could be involved in criminality."
Raeburn-Baines told us they have asked police to please not repeat the incident when their event, sponsored by Grenada Tourism and the City of Montreal, unfolds July 8-10. On Thursday afternoon, she said they hadn’t yet received a reply.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
BREAKING McGill University seeks emergency injunction to remove pro-Palestinian encampment from campus
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.