‘Most hated person in Quebec’ takes the stand
Former Montreal police officer takes stand at ethics committee hearing
After Stéfanie Trudeau became infamous for pepper-spraying protesters in a viral video during 2012’s Maple Spring, her life was never the same again, the former Montreal police officer testified Friday.
“When you go from being a normal person to the most hated person in Quebec ... it’s hard to live,” Trudeau told a police ethics committee Friday.
Trudeau — also known as Agent 728 — was speaking to the panel about incidents leading to charges of racial bias, excessive force and illegal arrest.
Julian Menezes filed an ethics complaint against Trudeau and the officer working with her at the time, Constantinos Samaras, in August 2012, for incidents that took place in the early hours of May 20, 2012 at the corner of Mont-Royal Ave. E. and de la Roche St.
He testified Wednesday that after he and two companions approached the scene of a cyclist being ticketed around 2 a.m., Trudeau and Samaras threw him to the ground, handcuffed him and pushed him into a police car.
His ankle and nose were injured, he said, testifying that Trudeau slammed on the car’s brakes multiple times, which caused his head to smash against the Plexiglas separator between the front and back seats.
Menezes also said Trudeau called him a “f---ing Indian” and that he would be raped if he went to prison.
On Friday, the prosecutor and defending lawyer made final arguments to the ethics committee president.
Prosecutor Michel Desgroseilliers said Trudeau acted maliciously, and that there were many inconsistencies between her testimony and that of Menezes and his two witnesses.
“God or the devil is in the details,” said Trudeau’s lawyer Giuseppe Battista before his closing argument. He said the testimonies of Menezes and his witnesses were not reliable, and were shaped by Trudeau’s infamy in the media.
“Just because three people say the same thing doesn’t mean that’s how it happened,” Battista said.
Despite saying outside the hearing room Thursday that she would not testify, Trudeau took the stand Friday. Two witnesses who were expected to testify Friday were not present.
Trudeau said Menezes was visibly intoxicated during the incident, walking at a slant, and had the scent of alcohol on his breath.
Thursday, Menezes testified that he had been at a wedding and did not have more than three drinks.
When he and his two companions approached the scene to ask what had happened, Trudeau said, she asked them to leave multiple times so she could deal with the ticket she was issuing. She said the group refused to leave, and that Menezes was yelling and appeared agitated.
Trudeau denied pushing Menezes to the ground when handcuffing him. On Thursday, the panel saw photos of Menezes’s injuries taken the morning of the incident by Judith Sribnai, his partner.
While Trudeau denied using the term “f---ing Indian” in the police car, she said there was confusion surrounding Menezes’s ethnicity.
When he finally gave his name verbally, since he did not have his wallet on him, she thought it was of Latino origin, she testified. While Samaras asked if his name was Portuguese, Trudeau said he looked like an Indian from India, she testified.
After he refused to identify himself several times, Trudeau admitted, she told him “a little guy like you would get f---ed in the ass in prison” as a final attempt to have him identify himself.
“The public should expect other things from its police force,” said Desgroseilliers in his closing argument. He added that police should do better to protect citizens and act according to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
When the car drove quickly down a few blocks on a side street near the scene, Trudeau said, Menezes was continually yelling “unlawful arrest” and refusing to identify himself. She said it was possible his head hit the Plexiglas when she braked.
Trudeau cited the political climate of the Maple Spring as a reason for the agitation of the events.
“It was like that in 2012,” she said. “I worked 18 years (as a police officer) and never saw a climate like that.” She added that it was impossible for police to do their jobs.
Trudeau said the cyclist and people who approached the scene were all wearing red squares, a symbol of the student protest. She said the four accused her of “political profiling.”
While no verdict was decided Friday, Trudeau and Menezes should receive the results of the process soon.