Lawyer, TPA president reflect on impact of Zameer verdict in death of Toronto police officer

On the day after Umar Zameer was found not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northup, his lawyer and the president of the Toronto Police Association are reflecting on what the verdict means.

“They’ve been feeling all kinds of emotions over the past three years and they just felt a real sense of relief, but they’re not celebrating,” said Zameer’s lawyer Nader Hasan. “They continue to feel awful for the poor officer and his family who are suffering and continuing to suffer for the loss of what I understand was an honorable and good police officer.”

The jury took four days to deliver their verdict. The facts that Zameer ran over Northrup and caused his death were not in dispute. Rather, the case centered on whether Zameer meant to hit Northrup – or even knew it happened – and whether he knew Northrup and his partner, who were in plain clothes, were police officers.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy addressed Zameer briefly before he exited the courtroom, offering her “deepest apologies for what you’ve been through.”

Hasan said he wasn’t surprised by the judge’s words.

“You hear it every now and then words of empathy or sympathy from the judge once the case is over. And I think it’s important to emphasize that Justice Malloy certainly didn’t put her thumb on the scale at all during the proceeding as she shouldn’t, she was very judicial throughout the proceedings, but when it was all over and the jury had spoken, she did say those words.”

“I never meant any of this to happen. I am sorry for what had happened,” Zameer said moments after walking out of court a free man in his first public statement since his arrest almost three years ago.

“There are no winners here but Mr. Zameer is is clearly not a criminal and I’m glad that a jury of 12 hard working Canadians were able to see that,” added Hasan.

But he said the last three years have been awful for Zameer and his family. “There was a lot of hatred directed towards my client. You saw it on the internet, you saw it on social media. People were calling him a terrorist. There’s all kinds of racist innuendo in that commentary three years ago.”

And some of that vitriol was targeted towards him as well. “I was also getting hate mail for having the audacity to take on this case. I even got emails wishing that my children get run over which was disturbing and unfortunate to read.”

He said what he is receiving now is quite a different story. “My email inbox has been inundated from messages from people across the country who say my deepest sympathies for what this poor family has gone through … The difference between then and now is that Canadians now know the truth.”

The lawyer said he didn’t even blame those people commented on the case. “The people I blame the most are the politicians who knew better, who sounded off about this case, who presumed guilt even though they knew nothing about the case and for the police for feeding a false narrative to the public back when they controlled the narrative and nobody was in a position to challenge their inaccurate narrative back then.”

In an interview with CityNews, Toronto Police Association President Jon Reid said he is still feeling surprised about how the verdict.

“I think like most of my members, I’m still feeling kind of, I guess, surprised at the verdict, concerned about the verdict, how that might impact policing down the road.”

Reid released a statement after the verdict was announced, saying the police are “disappointed, angry and frustrated.”

“I think ultimately, the main focus, quite honestly, right now should also be on the family, Margaret Northrup and the three children. And I think that’s where we are as an association can be focusing our attention, moving forward,” Reid added.

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw also said in a statement on Sunday that members had been “hoping for a different outcome,” but they respect the judicial process.

“From the point of view of our members and myself, I honestly and truly thought there would be a manslaughter conviction. We had a death of a person, a family man, also a police officer, in the lawful execution of his duty,” shared Reid.

When asked if he believes there will be a review about police procedures regarding plainclothes officers, Reid said he anticipates there will be an inquest into Northup’s death.

“I think any opportunity where we can look at processes to make things safer for our members and also safer for the public is always a great opportunity to undergo.”

There has been criticism of the police officers who took the stand in Zameer’s trial. “I do think the police need to take a hard look at how they behave in court,” Hasan said.

Hasan accused the police officers of lying during their testimony. “Some of them should be congratulated for telling the truth, but some of them should be reprimanded and disciplined for lying, lying under oath, lying to the Canadian public, lying to the jury.”

Three police officers, including Northrup’s partner, provided eyewitness testimony claiming that the veteran detective was standing with his hands up the moment before he was fatally struck.

However, two crash reconstruction experts – one called by the Crown and one by the defence – told court they concluded Northrup had been side swiped and knocked down by the car as it was reversing and was already on the ground when he was run over.

Reid said he didn’t believe there should be an investigation.

“These are comments made by the defense counsel, I believe, and by her honour. Once again, there are processes in place, which have been in place for years. If there are concerns about this, then they would be followed by the court, by the crown and also by the police service.”

Shortly after CityNews’ interview with Reid, Demkiw announced they have asked OPP to conduct an independent review as a result of the adverse comments made by Molloy during the trial.

Toronto police also announced they would be conducting an internal review on plainclothes policy,

As for what’s next, there was no indication given if the Crown plans to file an appeal at this point. “I think they will come to realize that this was the right result, there was a just result and that an appeal is neither necessary nor in the interest of justice,” said Hasan.

Meanwhile, to help pay for Zameer’s legal bills, a GoFundMe has raised over $150,000 as of Monday night of $200,000 goal.