PROTEST AT POLICE HQ
Anger over arrests at downtown camp
A day after the tents and signs were taken away, accusations of betrayal hung in the air where three groups had blocked a downtown intersection to draw attention to systemic racism, especially in policing.
On Saturday morning, hours after dozens of officers moved in to clear out the intersection of Nicholas Street and Laurier Avenue — scene of a camp out since Thursday — about 100 demonstrators descended on Ottawa police headquarters on Elgin Street.
The protesters were demanding the immediate release of 13 people arrested during the clear-out and the dropping of mischief charges. Three groups, including the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, had occupied the busy intersection to protest the increase in the police budget as well as systemic racism in education, health, housing and policing.
Police tweeted mid-afternoon that everyone arrested had been released. In total, 12 people were charged with mischief and one youth was released with a warning under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, police said.
The arrests — at 3:30 a.m. — also sparked accusations that the protesters were harassed, bullied and mistreated as they were taken into custody.
Speaking through a megaphone, an unidentified organizer said the camp was “ambushed” and that protesters were handcuffed, harassed and kept waiting in a stuffy, airless police van, while one was later denied water to take medication.
“We were yelled at. We were ignored. We were bullied from the very moment they took us from Laurier and arrested us to the moment we got out,” she said. “This is what we mean by institutional racism. Policing in Ottawa is f--ing racist.”
A police spokesman denied the accusation, saying a number of paramedics were on scene early Saturday precisely to ensure everyone's safety. The arrests were also recorded to ensure an accurate account existed. Demonstrators, the police said, were repeatedly asked to leave peacefully. In several cases, the police said, protesters refused to provide their names, delaying their release from custody.
The collection of three groups, including the Ottawa Black Diaspora Coalition and the KZ Land Protectors, were particularly upset because they had arranged meetings on Saturday both with four city councillors and, later, members of the police services board. But, after the arrests, neither meeting took place. The groups are calling for a freeze in the police budget which, instead, calls for a $13-million increase in 2021.
Ifrah Yusuf, co-chair of Justice for Abdirahman, said occupying the intersection, which began Thursday afternoon, was a way to stand in solidarity with Black and Indigenous groups against systemic racism in institutions.
“We want to show that we stand, hand-in-hand, against the violence that is inflicted on us on a daily basis, with the policing system, the housing system, the education system, the health system and the city as a whole.”
Her group has been particularly active since the acquittal in October of an Ottawa constable in the fatal arrest of Abdirahman Abdi in July 2016, a physical takedown thought by some to have racial overtones.
The Ottawa Police Services Board confirmed the protesters' version of events. In a statement, the board said chair Diane Deans and board members Coun. Rawlson King and Daljit Nirman agreed to meet with members of the coalition “for the purposes of a constructive dialogue” Saturday.
“Regrettably, following the apprehension of demonstrators early this morning by the Ottawa Police Service, the community members have since declined to meet,” Deans said in the statement.
“We remain at City Hall willing and open to talk. While we understand the concern with the decision to remove the demonstrators, the Board cannot interfere in the operational decisions of the Service and was therefore not involved in this action. The police make operational decisions based on risk assessments and ensuring the safety of the public.”
The blocking of the intersection caused traffic headaches as Nicholas contains on and off ramps to Highway 417. Among protesters' demands are an end to the school resource officer program that places police in schools; funding to address what they say is the public health crisis of systemic racism; an end to racial discrimination in schools; the firing of violent or racist police officers; and increased funding for Black and Indigenous students.