Black N.S. police officer, wife say RCMP pulled them over at gunpoint

HALIFAX — A Halifax police superintendent and his wife, a lawyer, said Friday they were launching a complaint alleging the RCMP stopped their vehicle and ordered the officer out at gunpoint based on racial profiling.

The RCMP issued a statement later in the day saying the couple’s car matched the description of a suspect in a shooting incident, and they said the officers “ensured a safe outcome to a very stressful situation.”

Dean Simmonds, a 20-yearveteran of the Halifax police, and Angela Simmonds, a lawyer who was acclaimed this week as the provincial Liberal candidate for Preston, said the incident of “driving while Black” occurred as they were on their way to buy groceries in their community of Preston at about 12:30 p.m. on July 4.

Angela Simmonds, reached by telephone Friday, declined further comment, but said she and her husband stand by the details they provided in a news release issued by the African Nova Scotian Decade for People of African Descent Coalition.

The coalition quoted the couple as saying that when they were stopped, one of the Mounties ordered the 45-yearold police superintendent, who was wearing plain clothes, out of the vehicle with his hands up, while the other officer pointed a carbine rifle in his direction.

It was only after several minutes, once Dean Simmonds managed to explain who he was, that the two officers told the couple there had been a report of shots fired in the area. The officers “did not explain if Dean and Angela fit a description of the alleged perpetrators,” the release said. “The experience was traumatic for the couple, who feared for their lives.”

Angela Simmonds is quoted saying the case was an example of the way Black people continue “to be subjected to inhumane treatment and are regarded as dangerous, dishonest, guilty criminals.” The release called the incident “another brutal reminder of the broader problem of systemic racism within the RCMP, and it further erodes the trust between police and Black communities in Nova Scotia.”

The couple said they intend to file a complaint with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission “and want a full investigation into the incident.”