Video showing Montreal police officer kneeling on Black youth's neck sparks calls for investigation
A video, showing a Montreal police (SPVM) officer kneeling on a young Black man's neck, has sparked outrage and calls for an investigation by politicians.
It happened on June 10, when Montreal police say they received a 911 call about a fight at Georges-Vanier High School, in the Villeray neighbourhood.
The fight, according to police, involved about 15 young people from different schools; two minors were arrested for obstructing the work of a peace officer and carrying weapons: a bottle of bear repellent and a taser.
A video was posted to social media after the incident, showing a police officer pushing his left knee down onto the young man's neck and face.
The teen, lying unmoving on the ground, is then handcuffed by the officers. They search his bag and take out what looks like a taser. Police confirmed that the young man was in possession of the prohibited weapon.
Frantz Benjamin, Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) member for Viau says he was shocked to see excerpts of the video.
"An aggressive arrest of two young Black men not far from Rousselot Street in Montreal," he said.
Benjamin states he has already written to the director general of the Montreal police to request that an investigation be launched. According to Montreal police, an "analysis" of the situation is underway.
In an e-mail to CTV News, Montreal police said that, “although the neck control technique is not involved in this situation, it should be noted that it is part of the National Use of Force Model” that is taught at Quebec’s policing school, the École nationale de police du Québec (ÉNPQ).
“Applied in a specific context and under specific circumstances, it allows for the control of a suspect with a greatly reduced risk of injury, compared to the use of some intermediate weapons,” the e-mail stated.
Benjamin said he was pleased the situation would be analyzed.
"It is a question of transparency and security to allow us to have confidence in the police," he said. "I am pleased to see that several elected municipal officials, such as Abdelhaq Sari and Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, share my request."
When asked by La Presse if she had seen the images, Plante called the incident "worrying."
"The analysis underway should shed light on the entire intervention," she told La Presse, adding Montrealers "must be able to live safely in their neighbourhoods."
Plante's administration took the opportunity to reiterate the importance of implementing the use of body cameras on all officers.
It also noted that it has invested more than $2 million to support community organizations "that do essential work in the prevention of violence among young people."
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION CALLED POLICE
Montreal police said it had been called to George Vanier High School, because it “has been struggling with a problem of crowds, conflicts and fights, involving students from different schools.”
Officers were called to the school earlier last week to “be present and visible,” and on the day of the incident, had visited the school for the second time that week.
“The school administration contacted 9-1-1 to request police intervention because a fight was in progress involving about 15 individuals. Once on the scene, the police officers intervened with several individuals, notably to put an end to a crowd,” Montreal police public relations said in an e-mail to CTV News Montreal.
Police say the two minors were released on summons and their cases will be carried out in youth court.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
This isn't the first time that Montreal police has been accused of using excessive force in an arrest.
In April, there were renewed calls for patrollers to wear bodycams after a video surfaced showing a Montreal police officer punching a man in the head while his colleagues held him down.
The altercation took place at Jeanne Mance Park, in the Plateau Mont-Royal borough, after officers approached the man because he was allegedly drinking alcohol.
"They asked him to stop...he continued," said spokesperson David Shane. "When they went to intervene with him, he adopted a combat position."
In 2018, a video caught Montreal police officers slamming a woman against the trunk of cruiser and striking her in the back of the head.
At the time, the officers claimed she was acting aggressively under the influence of drugs.
Also that year, Montreal police were accused of using excessive force in the arrest of a Haitian man, resulting in his death.
A video, taken by a neighbour in the apartment building, shows officers using several projectiles and a taser to restrain him.
He was later declared dead at the hospital.
- With files from CTV News Montreal's Gabrielle Fahmy
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Former Air Canada employees among suspects identified in gold heist at Pearson Airport: police
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year, Peel Regional Police said Wednesday.
MPs summon ArriveCan contractor to the House to be admonished in rare parliamentary display
Enacting an extraordinarily rarely used parliamentary power, MPs have summoned an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon to be admonished publicly for failing to answer their questions.
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
Gas prices across Ontario expected to climb to levels not seen since 2022, analyst says
Ontario is going to see a big jump at the pumps later this week as gas prices in the province hit levels not seen in nearly two years, according to one industry analyst.
Ancient skeletons unearthed in France reveal Mafia-style killings
More than 5,500 years ago, two women were tied up and probably buried alive in a ritual sacrifice, using a form of torture associated today with the Italian Mafia, according to an analysis of skeletons discovered at an archaeological site in southwest France.
10 years in U.S. prison for Canadian man who stole millions with fake psychic fraud
A former Montreal resident has been sentenced to 10 years in a United States federal prison for a multi-decade fraud that manipulated more than one million Americans into sending money to fake psychics.
'Enormous sum of money': Actor Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against tabloid
British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
O.J. Simpson was chilling with a beer on a couch before Easter, lawyer says. 2 weeks later he was dead
O.J. Simpson's last robust discussion with his longtime lawyer was just before Easter, at the country club home Simpson leased southwest of the Las Vegas Strip. About a week later, on April 5, a doctor said Simpson was 'transitioning.'
Some of the winners and losers in the 2024 federal budget
With a variety of fiscal and policy measures announced in the federal budget, winners include small businesses and fintech companies while losers include the tobacco industry and Canadian pension funds.