Video shows Ottawa cop punching man outside homeless shelter
Posted October 21, 2015 1:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
An internal investigation is underway by Ottawa police after a video surfaced showing an officer allegedly punch a man in the face outside an Ottawa homeless shelter.
The video, which was shot on Monday afternoon, was uploaded to LiveLeak on Tuesday. Grainy and dark in the rain, the video shows a man in uniform viciously punch someone sitting upright on the sidewalk in front of a Salvation Army shelter in downtown Ottawa.
According to CBC News, the man had been yelling racial slurs at the officer.
“As hard as it is for the public to see, they have to understand the entire context of it,” Matt Skof, head of the Ottawa Police Association, told the CBC.
Ottawa Police Const. Chuck Benoit confirmed with Global News that an internal probe is underway.
A witness to the event said that the force was unnecessary.
“I have a lot of respect for police officers,” Mirna Guerrero told the CBC, “but that was unacceptable. A police officer shouldn’t be using excessive force.”
Just last winter, a Montreal officer was disciplined for threatening to tie a homeless man to a pole. And last fall, a woman settled a lawsuit for $1.5 million after being beaten by a Los Angeles police officer near an L.A. freeway.
