A young black man believes he was the victim of racial profiling after he was handcuffed by Montreal police a few blocks from his home on Saturday for missing a reflector from his bike.
• Read also: Racial Profiling in Repentigny: ‘I Feel Like a Secondary Citizen’
• Read also: Racial profiling: Lawyer sues six SPVM agents and the City of Montreal
• Read also: Inuit MP victim of parliamentary profiling
“I hear stories around me, but I never imagined it would be me,” Breadel Huanhu breathes.
On his way to play music with a friend, the 27-year-old sound engineer stopped at around 2 p.m. at the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard and Montcalm Street when he saw that a black man might have been arrested.
“What are you waiting for to start filming?” A customer had fired it.
A patrol subsequently reported that a reflector was missing from Braudel Huanhu’s bike. Then a police officer asked him to identify himself, which Montrealer interrogated, not understanding the justification exactly.
When he started filming with his cell phone, he was hung on the wall of a Vietnamese bar and his hands tied. At least three police officers participated in the inspection and lasted four minutes. Montrealer, who returned to the scene of the intervention on Sunday, kept a few marks on his wrist. He should get a ticket in the mail soon.
“I was shivering and the policeman told me to stop, and they don’t like people who shiver like that,” recalls Mr. Huanhu, who says he encountered such a situation for the first time.
complaints
A passerby who saw the scene and filmed Mr. Huanhu’s game encouraged him to appeal to the Center for Research and Action on Race Relations (CRARR).
With the organization’s support, a Benin man plans to file a complaint with the police ethics and human rights committees.
“According to what he described, it is an extremely arbitrary and excessive interference,” comments Fu Niemi, CRARR’s general manager.
Mr Huanhu believes the actions of the Montreal Police Department (SPVM) are “clearly” due to the color of his skin.
Events are also taking place near his house. “I have a small family and I’m starting to get scared,” says the father of a 10-month-old girl. I’m thinking of moving. “
Police forces responded: “SPVM has taken note of the video and is taking these events seriously.” So the commander of the neighboring station will take the time to analyze the facts by considering the circumstances and context of the intervention. “
