As Alex Gold-Apel was leaving Osheaga on Sunday night, he noticed an arrest being made outside the Jean-Drapeau metro.
He says he saw about 20 officers involved in an arrest of one Black man, who was screaming in pain and accusing the police of racism, so he decided to film the incident.
He says a few minutes into his recording, after a stranger asked why he was filming, a nearby officer called him a “vigilante.”
The Montreal resident says he was taken aback by the comment, but didn’t stop recording.
“I’m not a vigilante, I’m just making sure that there’s 20 of you and you don’t do anything stupid,” Gold-Apel can be heard saying in the video. “I’m not a vigilante, I’m allowed to.”
After a few more words, the officer turns on his flashlight, and Gold-Apel asks if he’s trying to block him from filming.
The officer can be heard stating that he isn’t blocking his right to film.
“I’m protecting my colleagues,” he says.
In an interview with Global News, Gold-Apel says he simply wanted to film the arrest because he was concerned for the man’s safety.
“I figured the least that I can do as a white male in that situation is to take out my phone and film,” he said. “That’s what people have suggested is the best thing to do in that situation.
“I figured me standing there, and there was others standing there as well, would diminish the chances that something bad would happen to that man.”
He added that police need to be held accountable for arrests, and so he believes it was within his right to film.
“It’s not one of those situations where it was ambiguous if the officer was right or wrong, I think he was completely out of line,” he said.
Criminal defence lawyer Philip Schneider says it is completely legal for someone to film a public official on public property, and doesn’t understand why the officer would try to restrict it.
“He’s not committing a criminal offence by blocking his camera, but he’s running the risk of having a complaint against him in déontologie (ethics) and in discipline in his own police force, because the conduct that he’s demonstrating is inappropriate,” said Schneider.
Global News reached out to the Montreal police for comment on the incident, but they did not respond before our deadline.
For his part, Gold-Apel says he’ll file a complaint against the officer.
He hopes it’ll shed light on the incident, so that it will discourage other officers from doing the same in the future.