Green, officer interaction ‘not a friendly hello’: witness

Something just wasn’t right about the encounter between a Hamilton police constable and Coun. Matthew Green, one witness who drove past the alleged arbitrary stop told the officer’s disciplinary hearing.

Const. Andrew Pfeifer is facing a discreditable conduct charge in connection with the black Ward 3 councillor’s complaint about the stop he and his lawyer contend was “racial profiling.”

Green previously testified that the officer aggressively questioned him as he waited for a bus at Victoria Avenue South and Stinson Street, making him feel “psychologically detained.”

The defence argues it was Green who was aggressive during the April 26, 2016 encounter and that the officer stopped out of concern for the councillor’s well-being.

Witness Shazi Bokhari told the hearing Tuesday she was driving west along Stinson when she noticed traffic slowing. As she came to the stop sign at Victoria, she noticed two cruisers stopped on the other side of the road and could hear one of the officers loudly talking with a man standing across the road.

Unsure of how to proceed, she eventually drove by slowly. She said she recognized Green and heard him say, “I told you my name ... Can you tell me yours.”

Bokhari said she was concerned because she could see the interaction was “not a friendly hello.”

She described Green as appearing open to conversation but the officer as not friendly. “Something was very off about it,” she later said. “All of that rubbed me the wrong way.”

On cross-examination, Pfeifer’s lawyer, Bernard Cummins, peppered Bokhari with questions about how she interpreted the officer’s demeanour even though she didn’t hear him speak.

He also asked about her relationship with Green and her apparent interest in the case, pointing to social media posts that linked to news articles about it. Bokhari noted she works for the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton and said she often advocates for certain issues, including fighting racism.

She admitted to not knowing whether racism was behind the encounter but said the question crossed her mind as she drove away.

The hearing also heard from another witness, Michael Doyle, who said he was walking home with his son at the time of the encounter.

He described seeing the two cruisers parked in the eastbound lane and a man, known to be Green, leaning against the wall at the edge of the Claremont Access overpass.

When asked whether Green seemed distressed or in need of help, both witnesses answered no.

The case resumes Thursday at the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel.