‘I can’t breathe, guys’: Ontario man accuses police in Quebec of using excessive force

By Kevin Nielsen  Global News Posted September 11, 2024 1:15 pm 4 min read

Police in Laval, Que., say officers were following protocol after videos surfaced of police violently arresting a tourist from Toronto over Labour Day weekend.
Gulaid Omar was in Laval, just north of Montreal, to celebrate a work anniversary with family and friends on Sept. 1 when the incident began with a couple of Laval police officers.
“We wanted to see Montreal,” he said. “We’re actually planning to go to Taco Fest; just enjoy a long weekend over there.”
Omar, who is Black, said he was in his rental car with his cousins when a police cruiser rolled past as an officer shone a flashlight into his vehicle.
The cruiser kept driving as Omar and his passengers made their way towards a lounge. They were about six metres from the vehicle when the cruiser spun around and came back in their direction, according to Omar.
“They drove onto the curb and then they started yelling,” Omar said. “They said, ‘Get back into the car’ and they hit their lights.”
Omar said he asked the officers a number of times why they were detaining him.
“And the third time that I replied, he gave me a stiff arm push to my shoulder and my chest and I was confused,” he explained. “I said, ‘Don’t touch me. I know my rights.’ And that kind of set him off.”
“They punched me in my groin area about three times directly. They pepper-sprayed me,” he said. “They’re beating me up for about 10 to 15 minutes. But the first two officers initially that were there were beating me up for five, six minutes and then their backup arrived.”
The incident was caught on camera by his cousin and by others who arrived at the scene.
“You would think that when more police officers came into the scene, the situation would die down and like, it went way worse,” Omar said. “These guys put a spit bag over my head, they sprayed it inside and they started suffocating me, like, putting it over my nose and my mouth while there’s a knee on my neck putting two fingers on my jugular. And I’m constantly saying, ‘I can’t breathe, guys.'”
In the video, more than a dozen officers had arrived at the scene, which was around when Omar said he felt his life flash before his eyes.
“I actually thought I was going to die and I was so helpless,” he said.
After the incident came to an end, Omar was taken to hospital by paramedics for treatment.
He was also given a pair of tickets by police for not presenting his driver’s licence, insurance or ownership.
In a statement issued to Global News on Tuesday, Laval police say that the officers were patrolling in the area when they saw the vehicle and “the officers intercepted it to check the driver’s ability to operate the vehicle.”
“The individual who was intercepted refused to cooperate with the police and resisted, forcing them to use a continuum of force.”
On Wednesday morning, a spokesperson told Global News that the officers involved would not face any suspension in connection with the incident.
“After analysis, the police officers acted in compliance with the formative teachings. The officers are not suspended,” the spokesperson said. “I reiterate that a gradation of the use of force was applied according to the resistance of the person intercepted.”
Videos of the incident have been released on social media by Red Coalition, an organization working to eliminate racial profiling and systemic racism.
Just last week, a Quebec superior court judge ruled that racial profiling is a systemic issue within the Montreal police force and ordered the City of Montreal to compensate victims up to $5,000.
Joel DeBellefeuille, founder of the Red Coalition, told Global News racial profiling is common in police forces throughout the province.
DeBellefeuille has filed a complaint over the incident with the police ethics commission.
“It’s absolutely appalling and absolutely disgusting that in 2024, we’re still having these situations,” he said. “When are they going to learn?”
For his part, Omar is trying to recover from his injuries as well as from the mental aspects of the incident.
“ I’m a very strong man but I don’t want to even try to be the type of person to be breaking down in tears on camera,” he said. “But a lot of times in private I’ve been crying. You know, mentally I don’t feel right at all.”
— with files from Global News’ Felicia Parrillo