5 Quebec City police officers suspended after video shows violent treatment of Black youth
WARNING: This story contains disturbing details
The Quebec City police force said Tuesday it hassuspended fiveofficers who were involved inviolent altercations with two young Black people outside a downtown nightclub on the weekend.
The officersare suspendedwith pay as part of an "evolving investigation," into anincidentthat took place outside the Dagobert nightclub on Grande-AlleStreet early Saturday morning, aService de Police de la Ville de Qubec (SPVQ) spokesperson said.
Video footage that's been shared widely on social mediashowofficers punching and kicking snow in the face of a young Black man while he was lying on the ground restrained. Another video shows police dragging a young Black woman through the snow. At one point an officer appears to grabher by her hair.
The young man who was detained by police has since identified himself as 18-year-oldPacifiqueNiyokwizera. His lawyer, Fernando Belton, told Radio-Canada thathe feels his clientwas a victim of racial profiling.
Public Security MinisterGenevive Guilbault has asked QuebecPolice Ethics CommissionerMarc-Andr Dowdto investigate the actions of the police officers who were involved.
WATCH| Forceful arrest caught on video: (Warning: graphic footage)
On Tuesday, Guilbault said that while some elected officials and community leaders haveaskedfor an independent inquiry, she feels Dowd is best suited to get to the bottom of what happened. Thecommissionerisan "independent, expert resource," well versed in the rules that governpolice conduct in Quebec, Guilbault said.
"He can cite officers [and] require them to appear before the ethics commission, and if he thinks there's something criminal in [what happened that night]he can transfer it to the BEI, for example," she said, referring to the Bureaudes enqutes indpendantes, Quebec's police watchdog.
Jo-Kirby Olongbois the Vice-President of Entrepreneurship withLe Forum Jeunesse Afro-Qubcois (FJAQ), a non-profit based in Quebec City that works with Black youth across the province.
She welcomed the news of thesuspensions but said she still wants to see an independent, impartial investigation.
"It's a really good first step, but we want more," she said. "We want to make sure that an independent investigation is going to be conducted by the police and every other parties [involved]. We want to make sure thatPacifique and every other victim of Saturday are going to betreated the right way."
Police brotherhood surprised
SPVQ spokesperson Sandra Dion told CBCthe officers will besuspended with pay, as per the collective agreement, and the length of their suspension still hasn't been determined.
In a statement, Martine Fortier, president of the Quebec City police brotherhood(FPPVQ) saidshe was surprised five officers were suspended and hopes suspensions weren't politically motivated.
"We hope that this decision does not result from political pressure, in particular from certain parties which have positioned themselves in favour of the suspension of the police officers involved as of Sunday," she said.
She saidpolice officers have the right to "just and equal treatment" and that treatment should not be influenced by outside opinion.
Same officers, same night
Three of the officers involved in the incidentwere also involved in a violent clash at an Italian restaurantearlier that same evening,the SPVQ said on Tuesday.
The SPVQ says a separate internal investigation was opened into that event.
The officers are all part of a squad assigned to monitoring the city's bars, known as GRIPP. The secondincident took place at the Portofino in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood, and it too was caught on video both surveillance cameras and cell phones.
The man overpowered by the police at Portofino, Jean-Philippe St-Laurent, has told Radio-Canada he was the victim of gratuitous violence by the police.
St-Laurent said he decided to speak to the media after seeing what happened to Niyokwizera later that evening.
He said hewas sitting at a table with a dozen friends when a group of police officers from the squad entered the restaurant at around 10 p.m. and began checking for vaccine passports. Proof of double vaccination is required to access non-essential services in Quebec.
When the police arrived at St-Laurent's table, they arrested one member of the group because he was not allowed in the establishment. St-Laurent told Radio-Canada he argued with police, saying they had no right to intervene.
After the resulting fight, St-Laurent found himself in hospital being treated for injuries received in the scuffle.
Radio-Canada has reviewed surveillance camera footage that seems to showSt-Laurent was not being aggressive to police whenhe was suddenly knocked to the ground and struck by officers' feet and fists.
That's when people started filming. One videoshows St-Laurentpinned to the ground by officers as theyhit and kick him several times. Glass debris is strewn on the floor and furniture is upturned.
St-Laurent said he did start resisting because his survival instinct took over when hefelt defenceless on the ground, unable to avoidthe officers' blows.
He said he was overwhelmed by the aggressiveness of the police.
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.
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