Black community demanding answers from police in man's falling death

Ottawa's Black community is calling for answers from the Ottawa Police Serviceabout the death of a 23-year-old man who fell from a window of his family's 12th-floor apartment during a police raid earlier this month.

Avideo of the incidentshows heavily armed Ottawa police officers entering theapartment onJasmine Crescenton the morning of Oct. 7. TheSWAT team officers executed ano-knock warrant, also known as a "dynamic entry."

Shortly after, Anthony Aust fell to his deathfrom a window.His stepfather, grandmother and two younger siblings were home at the time.

Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), said last weekit had not yet interviewed key officers who were present at the raid.

In a joint news releaseMonday, local Black groups613-819 Black Hub,Parents for Diversity, the African Canadian Association of Ottawa, the Justice for Abdirahman Coalitionand North-South Development Roots and Culture Canadacalled on Chief Peter Sloly to meet with them to give them answers aboutAust's death.

Some of the questions they list in the release are:

• Why did police usethe dynamic entry tactic and "disregard the safety of Aust's family?"
• Why did they fail toanticipate that"Aust might jump" from the apartment following the May 2020 falling death ofRegis Korchinski-Paquettein Toronto?
• Do police keep statistics, broken down by race, on such dynamic entry raids?
• Who authorized the raid?

"We call on Chief Sloly to promptly respond to our request to meet and provide answers to these questions," reads the release.

The release states that Aust's mother Nhora Austis "not confident" the SIU will lay charges in her son's death.

"Neither are we," states the release.

Ottawa advocacy groups call for answers from police after man dies in 12-storey fall

4 years ago

Duration 1:09

Ketcia Peters, spokesperson for 613-819 Black Hub, is calling for answers surrounding the death of Anthony Aust, who died after falling from his apartment building during a raid by Ottawa police.

In 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada ruledno-knock warrants could be used in urgent cases. But in February of this year, an Ottawa judge ruled that awoman's charter rights had been violated by police duringa dynamic entry. Superior Court Justice Sally Gomery said"police cannot operate from an assumption that they should break in the door of any residence that they have a warrant to search."

"The ruling doesn't appear to have curbed the use of surprise raids by the Ottawa police but Aust's death could be a turning point," states the release.

"We also want the Ottawa police to answer the reason why they're not willing to take into account the recommendation of the Ottawa judge," said Ketcia Peters, spokesperson for 613-819 Black Hub and director general of North-South Development Roots and Culture Canada.

"Could they have used another method?" she asked."Can they have better informed intelligence to help them conduct those operations without having any innocent bystanders affected?"

The release also refers to the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi. A decision in the manslaughter trial of Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsionisexpected Tuesday.

• FROM JUNE:Hundreds descend on downtown Ottawa in support of Justice for Abdirahman march

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.