A lawyer for Adam Melanson, charged with assaulting an officer, said he plans to fight the charges as video appears to show officer kneeling on client’s neck.
Shame on the Toronto Police Service. This is beyond troubling. This is absolutely disgusting, particularly in the context of a peaceful protest in the post George Floyd era. POLICE REFORM NOW. I would like to see automatic criminal charges for any police officer who is filmed pinning someone not carrying a lethal weapon against the ground - via a knee on their neck and or head
Shane Martínez, the legal counsel for Adam Melanson, 32 at the time of arrest, wrote in a statement that the force police used was “troubling” and reflects an “increasing climate of intimidation” toward pro-Palestinian activists.
“Such conduct is irreconcilable with our freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression, and our right to security of person, all which are guaranteed by the Charter,” said Martínez.
This isn’t going to stop until the police union stops defending bad cops, and that isn’t going to stop until legal settlements for police malfeasance are a) paid for by the union, and/or b) police and/or their union are required to pay for their own malpractice insurance.
"His knee wasn’t on his neck, it was on his head. Big difference. "
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There is a fairly major difference, as we don’t breathe through a soft and compressible skull tube. But it does really hurt. I had a friendly officer kneel on my head once, and it was very unpleasant. Clearly he was a bit of a twat.
Don’t downvote me, arseholes. He obviously wasn’t really a friendly officer, he was a prick. And it was really painful. But I’m glad he wasn’t kneeling on my neck.
Even if kneeling on someone’s head against pavement/concrete isn’t lethal, I think it so clearly beyond any necessary amount of force (especially against unarmed people)-it’s clearly excessive and perhaps intended to intimidate, and it is dehumanizing
Yes, it wasn’t pleasant.
I think you should sue them …
It was too long ago now, they also held me for longer than the legal maximum without charge. All in all, a very unpleasant experience.
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Good Ole Shaggy Defense
