Liberal MPP retracts tweet smearing cop

A Liberal MPP has been forced to apologize for and delete a tweet posted by an aide that said an Ottawa police officer “murdered” a man last year.

The Twitter account belonging to Nathalie Des Rosiers (OttawaVanier) featured a series of tweets Wednesday night in English and in French about the shooting of Abdirahman Abdi.

“My thoughts are with Abdi’s family & friends murdered by a careless police officer. Be strong!” Des Rosiers tweeted.

That was an apparent reference to a July 24, 2016, incident involving Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsion after officers were called because a man was allegedly assaulting a woman.

Abdi, 37, who had a history of mental health issues, died as he was being arrested.

Montsion has been charged with manslaughter, assault with a weapon and aggravated assault, but his trial is not expected to begin until 2019.

Des Rosiers, a prominent civil rights lawyer and former dean of the University of Ottawa law school, issued an apology through the office of Premier Kathleen Wynne Thursday.

“Despite the tweets from my account last night, I want to make it clear I had no intention of commenting on any ongoing proceedings,” said the MPP, who was elected in a November byelection.

“I have absolute respect for the integrity of our judicial process. In our society everyone is innocent until proven guilty and I apologize that the comments last night did not reflect that principle,” she said.

In an interview with Radio-Canada in Ottawa, the MPP said she “was not aware” of the Twitter posts, but that she takes “full responsibility for the tweet coming out of my account.”

Des Rosiers, who is widely seen as a potential cabinet minister, said “someone from my staff” posted the tweets without her knowledge.