Black youth were 'resisting arrest,' says Quebec City police chief

Quebec City Police Chief Denis Turcotte saysthe two young Black people who were recently filmed being violently detained by police were "resisting arrest" and investigations into how police handled the situation are still ongoing.

"There were a total of six arreststhat night," said Turcotte, "five forcausing disorder, one for interfering with police work. Of those six arrests, only two people resisted. That's what we see in the videos."

Early on Saturday, Nov. 27, Service de police de la ville de Qubec(SPVQ) officers were filmed striking and kicking snow in the face of18-year-old Pacifique Niyokwizara while he was being restrained on the ground outside theDagobert night club.

At around the same time, in a related incident,police were recordeddragging a young Black woman through the snow and at one point an officer can be seen grabbingher by her hair.

Turcotte says police officers regularly have to use force to get people under control when they're resisting arrest. He saysthe goal of the internal investigationis to determine the circumstances and events that ledup to the use of force that was caught on camera.

He saysfive officers were suspended with paybecause they were closely involved in what happened and he wanted to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

"The police ethics commissioner was called upon to investigate these events, so we're co-ordinating with him," said Turcotte. The commissioner's investigation will take precedence, the chief said.

More videos emerge

Since those twovideos were widely shared online, two other peoplehave come forward alleging they were mistreated by Quebec City police.

On Tuesday,Jean-Philippe St-Laurent shared cell phonefootage of SPVQ officers tackling him to the ground inside a restaurant and landing several blows to his ribs.

St-Laurent says his encounter with police happened just a few hours before the interventions with the two young Black people and left him in hospital overnight.

WATCH| Quebec City police arrest a restaurant patron. Warning:this video contains graphic content.

Police officers pin down restaurant patron

3 years ago

Duration 1:39

Quebec City police officers violently restrain a restaurant patron.

The SPVQ has launched separate investigations and five police officers weresuspended with pay.

Turcotte says at least one of those officers was involved in all three interventions that happened overnight from Nov. 26 to Nov. 27 and he said he's studying whether he needs to review the mandate of the SPVQ'sGRIPP squad a task force created in 2004 tointervenein bars and night clubs.

Turcotte was also asked about anotherincidentearlier this fall. A video is circulatingwhere a member of the GRIPP squad swears at a man as hethreatens to pepper spray him. It too is under investigation.

On Thursday, another violent police intervention involving the GRIPP squad came to light. Video fromOct.17 at the District Saint-Joseph restaurant and bar shows three officers leading a man toward an exit into a hallway, where one of the officers violently shoves himinto a wall.

Radio-Canada has spoken to one of the bar's managers who says officers came inside when they saw people dancing, something forbidden by public health measures at the time, and were detaining the man for not respecting COVID-19 rules.

WATCH| Quebec City police officers arrest a man for violating public health rules.Warning: this video contains graphic content.

Quebec City police arrest man for dancing

3 years ago

Duration 0:49

Security video shows Quebec City police officers roughly arresting a man who had been dancing at a restaurant-bar while it was forbidden under public health COVID regulations.

Turcotte says the SPVQ is aware of the video but hasn't yet had the chance to review it, something he says the police force will be doing in the coming days.

Turcotte said the fallout from the videos and thesuspension of five police officers has created a "shockwave" for the public and the police force but he says he's committed to shedding light on what happened and improving the way the SPVQ operates going forward.

"The events of the last few days have been difficult for everyone," he said. "We need to learn and grow through all of this."