Toronto officer convicted in beating of Black teen in head with metal pipe

An off-duty Toronto police officer’s “razor-thin” claim to self-defence evaporated when he struck a badly injured and retreating Black teen in the head with a metal pipe, an Ontario judge said Friday in convicting him of assault.

Const. Michael Theriault was cleared, however, of the more serious charge of aggravated assault in the 2016 beating that left Dafonte Miller, then 19, with a ruptured eye and other serious injuries.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Joseph Di Luca said that while Miller’s eye injury met the threshold for aggravated assault, he could not rule out the possibility that Theriault and his brother Christian were acting in selfdefence as they delivered the blows that caused it — though he acknowledged they “probably” weren’t.

However, the self-defence argument vanished when the off-duty officer armed himself with a roughly metrelong metal pipe and attacked Miller, who had slipped away from the two men and was trying to get help from a nearby home, the judge said.

Christian Theriault was no longer involved in the fight at that point and thus must be acquitted, Di Luca said.

Both brothers were also acquitted on obstruction of justice for how they described the incident to investigators. They had pleaded not guilty on all counts.

The verdict, delivered amid ongoing protests against systemic racism and calls to defund the police, sparked outrage among many who called it further proof of discrimination in law enforcement and the justice system.

Miller, who was arrested as he lay bleeding on the ground and only saw the charges against him dropped months later, said the ruling does not feel like a loss.

“I remember the night it happened to me and I ended up getting charged. Now we’re in the situation where an officer has been held accountable to some extent,” Miller, now 22, told a news conference Friday afternoon.

“There’s a lot of people in my position who don’t get the same backing I got and don’t get to have their day to have any vindication for what they’re going through.”

Miller’s lawyer, Julian Falconer, said “important progress” had been made in the ongoing battle to hold authorities accountable.

“The force used that night by the Theriault brothers was found to have been more than likely intended to exact vigilante justice,” he said in a statement.

“The events of that night raise questions about the entire approach of the Toronto Police Service and the Durham [Regional] Police service in attempting to shield the Theriault brothers from being held to account for their actions. We have to put an end to this type of brutality and inevitable cover up.”

The case has spurred protests by members of Black Lives Matter and other anti-racism activists, and a rally was held outside the Oshawa, Ont., courthouse Friday morning, although the hearing was held over videoconference from various locations.

Friday’s hearing drew significant public attention, with thousands of viewers observing the livestream at various times.

An online fundraiser for Miller’s family received more than $35,000 on Friday, nearly doubling in total.