CALGARY
Protesters against police brutality vow to continue action after arrests outside courthouse
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Police and protesters are both alleging wrongdoing in an incident that led to two demonstrators being arrested Thursday outside the Calgary Courts Centre.
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The protest has been ongoing outside the downtown courthouse since July 26, with a group calling for the Calgary Police Service to fire Const. Alex Dunn
Dunn was convicted of assault earlier this year for a 2017 incident where he slammed a handcuffed Black woman face-first to the ground in an arrest processing facility.The woman, Dalia Kafi, died from a suspected drug overdose in June. Dunn was suspended without pay and handed a 30-day conditional sentence, including 15 days of house arrest.
Demonstrators have been waving signs and playing music daily at the corner of 5th Street and 6th Avenue S.W. for more than two weeks, speaking about Dunn as well as about systemic racism, police funding and accountability. But on Thursday, Alberta sheriffs from the courthouse arrested Inclusive Canada cofounder Taylor McNallie along with another protester.
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Chad Haggerty, the defence lawyer representing both people, said Calgary police identified the second protester by a name they don’t use. Another demonstrator identified them as Jack Mori.
Video of the arrests posted online shows about a dozen sheriffs outside the courthouse. Officers take both protesters to the ground to put handcuffs on them, and at one point, two sheriffs appear to kneel on McNallie’s back and someone yells, “Stop knee-neck restraining her!”
In another, earlier video, the second protester appears in an altercation with a woman before sheriffs run toward them. The woman can later be seen standing behind sheriffs by the courthouse doors.
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Black Lives Matter YYC president Adora Nwofor, who posted video of the arrests, said McNallie had been filming the woman’s interactions with uniformed sheriffs, but denied that McNallie instigated a physical fight.
Asked for more context about what led to the arrests, a Justice and Solicitor General spokesperson would only say “an incident” between demonstrators and a sheriff returning from her lunch break resulted in the arrests.
According to the spokesperson, the sheriff was injured and went to hospital.
CPS described the events as an off-duty courthouse employee trying to enter the building before being “aggressively approached” by two people and “struck with a megaphone.”
Haggerty said both protesters were also hurt, but McNallie’s injuries are minor and she is in “good spirits.”
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“She remains dedicated to confronting abuses of power and incidents where police officers are not being held accountable. She maintains that her protests are geared toward improving police accountability, transparency and oversight,” he said.
A CPS statement said police chief Mark Neufeld doesn’t have the authority to dismiss an officer for serious misconduct. Under the Police Act, those cases must go through a disciplinary hearing where the ruling, which takes time to complete, could include dismissal.
More charges
In addition to the assault charges from Thursday, McNallie has been charged with assault, harassment and mischief from alleged incidents on Aug. 5, 9 and 11.
According to CPS, a Courts Centre employee reported he was threatened, a man who had been taking pictures of the demonstration was allegedly attacked and another man entering the courthouse reported being hit in the head with a protest sign.
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All the charges were laid late Thursday, and Haggerty said he still doesn’t have much context about them.
“I look forward to receiving disclosure and responding to the charges once a little more light is shed on the circumstances that led to them,” he said.
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Nwofor, who returned to the protest outside the courthouse Friday, said demonstrators have endured abuse directed at them.
“We have people taking pictures of us. We have people calling us the N-word. We have people telling us to get a job, screaming ‘all lives matter,’ calling us idiots, stupid, ignorant,” she said.
“We’ve had people throw food, push people. Lots of stuff is happening to us, but they’re not doing anything.”
She said the protesters will continue calling for action, especially as people have been coming to them with their own stories of mistreatment at the hands of police in recent weeks.
“It’s not the first time I’ve been protesting. It’s not the first action that I’ve done to try to change racism in Calgary, so I will continue,” Nwofor said.
“I’m born here and I should not be living a racism dream.”
Twitter: @meksmith
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