Occupy Toronto protesters rally after officer cleared of wrongdoing
Posted July 10, 2012 10:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Occupy Toronto protesters were again in the spotlight Tuesday evening as they marched to oppose a decision last week by the province’s police watchdog.
On Tuesday, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) announced it had cleared a Toronto police officer of any wrongdoing during his arrest of protester Angela Turvey on March 30.
After the arrest, Turvey was treated in hospital for a broken nose, bruising around the eyes and a cut above her right eye which required seven stitches.
“I am satisfied that she received her injuries as a result of either being punched in the face by the subject officer or by her head impacting upon the ground during the arrest process,” SIU director Ian Scott said in a statement.
“However, given that the subject officer had both the lawful authority to arrest Ms. Turvey and to use reasonable force to effect that arrest, it is unclear whether the force used was excessive when the level of Ms. Turvey’s resistance is factored into this dynamic incident.”
The protesters met at 7 p.m. at Osgoode Hall and marched to Toronto police headquarters on College Street.
Turvey — who will be in court later this month for a pretrial hearing for her own charges — said she plans to fight the SIU’s ruling.
