Judge rules officer can’t hide name at inquest

Waterloo policeman faces hearing for 2015 killing

The officer who shot and killed Beau Baker in Kitchener in 2015 will not be permitted to have his identity shielded at the upcoming inquest into Baker’s death, a judge ruled Thursday. The unnamed Waterloo Regional Police officer argued in a court application earlier this year there were “credible reasons” to believe his safety and that of his young family were in jeopardy and therefore he wished to use a pseudonym at the inquest and to testify either remotely or behind a screen.

He said there had been Facebook posts calling for violence and even death to the officer who had killed Baker.

In his ruling released Thursday, Superior Court Justice Patrick J. Flynn said he sympathized with the officer, but found there was no evidence of “any specific threats or acts of intimidation against Officer Doe,” who is not named in the ruling, that would justify the extraordinary step of shielding his identity at the inquest.

“Neither an anonymity order nor a publication ban are necessary nor justified in this case,” the judge wrote.

Barring any successful appeal, the officer’s name is expected to be made public when he testifies at the inquest, expected to begin in February.

The Star reached out to the officer’s lawyer, Lucas O’Hara, but have not received a response.