black montrealers ‘absolutely not’ surprised by spvm racism scandal

didier berry vividly remembers the night he was beaten by police officers, even if it was more than a decade ago.he said he was filming his friend being arrested in 2012 when the police suddenly jumped on him.“basically, they beat me, strangled me,” berry recalled in an interview at a protest against police racism monday evening. he said he was lying in his own blood when he fell unconscious. “i went outside my body, came back, and then i was in my blood. they kicked me in the nuts,” he added. he went on to sue the police officers and the city, and in 2022 won more than $115,000 in damages.as a black man living in montreal, berry is one of many demonstrators who said they have experienced racial profiling by police officers. the monday night protest came after montreal police (spvm) chief fady dagher announced friday that an internal investigation had been launched into claims that officers on a montreal north patrol team were disproportionately targeting black and arab citizens. two officers from the team have been suspended and 14 others reassigned or relocated pending the investigation.officers were alleged to have made racist remarks and, according to allegations reported by la presse and radio-canada, some collected pieces of locs to keep as trophies from people they apprehended.early monday evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside station 39, home to the patrol group in question. the station was barricaded with orange tape and police officers, seemingly to prevent the group from getting too close.

families danced and cheered from their balconies while protesters walked by chanting “police everywhere, justice nowhere” through the streets of one of montreal’s most racialized neighbourhoods.one protester said it was beautiful to see people unite on a subject that hits home, but for him, it didn’t inspire hope that anything will change.“(eighteen) years ago, fredy villanueva was killed by spvm. a year ago, a young boy — not even a young man, a young boy — was killed in longueuil,” said julian grau-brown, a social worker pursuing a phd at mcgill university on police brutality. the young boy he was referring to is nooran rezayi, a 15-year-old fatally shot by longueuil police last september.grau-brown said he was “absolutely not” surprised when the news broke on friday.“for people that are shocked, i hope this is a wake-up call that systemic racism does exist here. and not only the black communities, the arab communities, but all minority communities here in montreal.“in my job, if i were to ever rip off — not cut, rip off — another person's loc, i wouldn't be suspended with pay; i’d be fired.”grau-brown, who himself has dreadlocks, said he gets stopped by police frequently, sometimes several times a night. two years ago, he said, a police car followed him on a 40-minute drive from brossard to st-léonard.“then a police officer stopped me because i was driving my mom's car and said, ‘why are you driving your mom's car?' it wasn't a random reason. it's because i have dreadlocks. it's because of who i am and who i want to be.”not enough progresscommunity leaders say that although there’s been some improvement with police racial profiling in montreal, leaders must stop merely talking about it and start implementing real changes.joel debellefeuille of the red coalition, an advocacy group that fights racial profiling, told reporters monday afternoon the main difference between this scandal and other instances of police racial profiling is that they were “caught with their hand in the cookie jar.”“we felt that things had started to improve a little bit, but this brought everybody that's involved with fighting racism (and) discrimination back three, four or five years. it's actually quite sad.”in order to make true progress on systemic racism within the police force, victims of racial profiling and police violence must be empowered to speak out about their experiences, said mohamed mimoun, co-ordinator of the youth community organization forum jeunesse de saint-michel.

“right now, it’s police officers who have reported on other police officers. that’s a good thing. but my young people always ask me, ‘what do we do with our testimonies, our voices, which are often heard behind closed doors?’” mimoun told reporters at a monday afternoon press conference. “in the end, the young person will do everything possible to avoid the police because they fear this kind of situation.”also on monday, montreal mayor soraya martinez ferrada told reporters that she wants an independent investigation into the alleged racist conduct, separate from the investigation currently underway by the spvm. “although the investigation is ongoing, we will ensure that there is an independent investigative process,” she said. "we will ensure that we ask all the necessary questions to ensure that the full truth comes out  —  and also to ensure there are no other situations we are unaware of.”