Open letter raises questions
For some reason, La Presse saw fit to publish this open letter in support of policeman Sanjay Vig from a police tech instructor at Collège Maisonneuve.
Police are now investigating a different vehicle in connection with the alleged attack on Vig.
CBC news at 17:30 said that police are still maintaining that Camara is an “important witness” and at this point I find myself incapable of hazarding the faintest guess what is going on.
Worth reading Patrick Lagacé on this case.
MarcG 14:59 on 2021-02-04 Permalink
The article also mentions that they turned his apartment upside down and harassed his neighbours (who don’t want their names mentioned for fear of reprisal).
Kate 17:57 on 2021-02-04 Permalink
It’s appalling what that poor man was put through.
jeather 18:17 on 2021-02-04 Permalink
I read this article about it, which leaves me with a lot of questions, though it seems to clarify the timeline a bit.
GC 20:08 on 2021-02-04 Permalink
Thank you, jeather, that does help a bit. I originally thought that Camara was pulled over earlier in the day and then allegedly came back to find the cop somewhere. I didn’t realize that the attack happened shortly after Camara’s ticket and at the same location.
Still confused, though… Even if the resolution on the camera makes it difficult to ID the attacker, surely it would show that there were at least three people present? Unless Camara was around the corner out of frame and this video just shows someone running into frame and assaulting the cop… More needless speculation on my part.
Unless the video does have three people in it and that’s what suggested his innocence. But, then what took six days??? Did it take that long for the cops to get the video? Or that long for them to get around to watching it?
Lots of questions, as you said…
jeather 20:24 on 2021-02-04 Permalink
Right, this article clarifies the timeline of the day of the attack, not what happened since, which is still puzzling me. I assume the videos won’t be made public, but I would very much like to see them.
Kate 21:33 on 2021-02-04 Permalink
Excellent thread by Les Perreaux on this story.
mare 00:36 on 2021-02-05 Permalink
I’m speculating here, but this sounds a bit like a « bon samaritain » passed, saw (yet) another person of colour being stopped by a cop, and decided to come to the “rescue”. And then things got out of hand, obviously.
GC 09:24 on 2021-02-05 Permalink
Would a body camera have actually helped in this case, if the cop was exclusively attacked from behind? Don’t they only show what’s in front?
walkerp 09:37 on 2021-02-05 Permalink
Seeing scuttlebutt on twitter (take it for what it’s worth), that this cop was known for shaking people down in the parc-ex neighbourhood. There is a LaPresse article that speculates it may have been a planned revenge.
To your point, Qatzelok, this article is also an excellent example of how the police are able to control the media message. No problem arresting an innocent man and showing his picture all over the place with the assumption that he attacked a cop. But when they talk about the cop himself, no photo, utter assumption that his story is true and no one would dare suggest that he was anything other than “doing his job”
“Le policier serait connu depuis des années dans le quartier Parc-Extension comme un patrouilleur très actif dans l’application du Code de la sécurité routière et respecté de ses collègues.”
I would love to actually hear what people in the neighbourhood really say about him when they talk to each other. I bet it is a lot more than just applying the “code de la sécurité routière.” More likely it is our own little Training Day scenario.