About 100 people gathered in downtown Edmonton Saturday to protest the recent decision by the Alberta Crown Prosecutors Service (ACPS) to not pursue charges against a police officer who left Pacey Dumas, an Indigenous man, with severe injuries during an arrest in 2020.
Alberta’s police watchdog, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), called the actions of the officer, Cst. Ben Todd, unreasonable and said there were grounds to believe Todd had committed a criminal offence.
ASIRT referred the matter to ACPS, which did not recommend charges.
READ MORE: Edmonton officer who used ‘unreasonable’ force in 2020 arrest will not face charges
Supporters outside an Alberta Justice building held signs reading “Police oversight is flawed,” “Justice for Pacey” and “No one is above the law” as they chanted, many wearing orange.
Wanda Dumas, Pacey’s grandmother, said the Crown’s choice shows there is something wrong with the justice system.
“We had hoped that the police officer would have been charged but the Crown prosecutor denied that,” said Dumas.
Dumas said she was overwhelmed by the number of people who attended the rally.
“I wasn’t expecting so many people to be here, to be supporting us,” she said.
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“There’s a lot of people that want justice, and that’s what we’re asking for.”
At the protest, family members also spoke in memory of Blair Dumas, who died by suicide last year after battling depression.
“Justice for Pacey and Blair,” the crowd yelled.
Blair was there during the kick and had been in handcuffs on the ground. The family said his mental health spiralled after the incident as he felt he couldn’t protect his younger brother.
Pacey was at the event but did not speak publicly.
READ MORE: Man injured by Edmonton police kick to head weeps after Crown declines charges
The Dumas family has filed a lawsuit against Todd, as well as Police Chief Dale McFee and six other unidentified officers who were there during the injury.
The lawsuit alleges Todd kicked Dumas without warning or provocation, causing him serious injury. Doctors had to remove a portion of his skull to ease pressure from his brain and a metal plate was later put into his head, says the document.
The family’s lawyer, Heather Steinke-Attia said in a statement that Todd should be facing a charge of aggravated assault.
“(That) would be the case against any civilian causing this level of harm to another civilian or to an officer,” she said.
None of the allegations in the statement of claim have been proven in court and a statement of defence denies the allegations.
The defence document says that Dumas, while on the ground, announced to the officer that he had a knife in his pocket and began reaching for it.
“The EPS members were required to act swiftly to address the lethal threat and Const. Todd delivered one kick to Pacey’s head as it was the closest target to him, and from his assessment it was the only option to address the threat without moving and placing the other EPS members at risk,” says the statement of defence.
No knife was found on the brothers or at the home, said Steinke-Attia. A pocket knife discovered on the street the next day was determined to be unrelated, she said.
Edmonton police said that they are conducting their own investigation and that Todd is on leave with pay.
— with files from Angela Amato, The Canadian Press
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