In a conversation with MTL Blog, a police spokesperson said the SPVM is still conducting an analysis but, based on initial information, described the strikes to the head as a "diversion" technique, which they said are "part of" the Modèle national d'emploi de la force.
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What happened in Parc Jeanne-Mance?
On Saturday, April 10, Montreal police were filmed tackling a person to the ground.
As they had the person pinned, one officer appears to hold them in a chokehold and can be seen repeatedly punching the individual in the head.
Witness Agnes Bebon, who took the video above, told MTL Blog, "I saw [an] officer on a bike hit the man with the bike as he was walking. The officers then tackled him and placed him in a neck hold and then started punching him in the face."
"People were screaming that he can't breathe and to let him go. They then placed him in the back of a cop car and drove away," Bebon said.
Ocean Lewis, who is part of Racial Justice Collective and has been actively speaking out about what occurred on April 10, described the event as "completely unjust, unlawful, [and] unnecessary in every single fashion. It is proof of the double standard that exists in the police force."
"Hundreds of students — white, able-bodied, privileged students, young people — can go to a park [...], party for days on end, not social distance, no masks, but this one man […] almost got the chopping block."
"It is a double standard, it is disgusting, and it's just further proof that police use excessive force for people of colour," they said.
What do the police have to say about it?
The SPVM has said the officer responded with such force due to the individual biting the officer.Â
SPVM spokesperson David Shane told MTL Blog that "in this particular case, police officers were near Parc Jeanne-Mance and they observed an individual that was consuming alcohol on the public grounds [...]. The police officers warned him verbally that he could not drink alcohol."
Shane claimed the individual defied the police.
"When they went to approach him, he adopted [...] a fighting stance and showed them directly that he was going to resist actively," Shane continued.
He alleged that "the individual hit the police officers and bit one of them."Â
Officers arrested the individual "for assault against a peace officer and obstructing the work of a peace officer," Shane said.
The individual "also received a ticket for consuming alcohol on public grounds."
What does the SPVM have to say about this use of force?
The Modèle national d'emploi de la force states that "forceful techniques are used with the intention of ending a behaviour or enabling the application of a control technique to be applied."
The Model explains these may include "bare-handed strikes such as punches or kicks, a takedown technique or neck control."
"From what we gather, the police officer used 'diversion techniques,' including striking, so the individual would stop biting him," explained Shane.
"In any given situation, most of the time, the individual has the initiative. So, depending on the behaviour of the individual, that's going to dictate how the police respond."
"If an individual resists passively or actively, starts hitting them, biting them, then at that point, the police officer will escalate the use of diverse techniques. First off, to protect themselves, and also to be able to control the individual without hurting him as well,"Â Shane claimed.
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