'I'm not resisting': Video shows police Tasering shirtless woman at busy Vancouver transit station
Warning: This story has video that may be disturbing to some viewers.
The tactics of Metro Vancouver Transit Police are under scrutiny after videos surfaced online showing a woman being Tasered repeatedly during an arrest Thursday afternoon.
“Please let me put my shirt back on,” the woman can be heard saying in one video that was posted to Twitter.
With her shirt pulled over her head, her red bra is the only thing covering her torso as two officers restrain her on the ground of the Granville SkyTrain Station in downtown Vancouver.
Authorities said the officers involved were responding to multiple reports that a woman was suffering an apparent mental health crisis at the busy transit station at around 4:30 p.m.
In a statement, Metro Vancouver Transit Police told CTV News some of the callers alleged the woman was "chasing other passengers, screaming incoherently and removing her clothing."
"Officers tried to defuse the situation verbally, using several de-escalation techniques to help her, which were ineffective," the statement continued.
"Concerned for her safety and the safety of other transit users, they had to physically gain control of the woman to further assess her wellbeing and mitigate potential risk to her and the public."
One witness who captured part of the incident on video disputed that version of events. Faisul Jufar said police "immediately tackled (the woman) to the ground" when they arrived.
"I was shocked. There was no verbal conversation prior to approaching her to settle her down and then they used their electric gun and zapped her," Jufar said in a message to CTV News.
From what he witnessed, Jufar said the woman was "obviously mentally unwell but wasn't harming anyone."
In another video of the arrest that was shared on TikTok, the woman can be heard yelling, "Please, I'm not hitting them, I'm not resisting," as she is being Tasered.
So far, no video has emerged showing the entirety of the officers' interaction with the woman. Metro Vancouver Transit Police alleged she "attempted to grab the officers' weapon" at one point, which justified the officers' use of knee strikes and the Taser.
"Both methods are approved for police officers in certain circumstances where a suspect is actively resisting and displaying assaultive behaviour," the force said in its statement.
The woman was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital, authorities said.
Since the disturbing videos were published online, there have been growing calls for accountability for the two officers involved in the arrest.
“This situation needs to be further investigated and the outcome of that investigation needs to be shared with the public,” Vancouver resident Vic Ritchie told CTV News in an email. “I am a woman who cannot help but feel less safe on the streets knowing that the police officers hired to ‘protect citizens’ are now publicly known to beat and (Taser) women, who are not even refusing arrests.”
Const. Amanda Steed of the MVTP confirmed B.C.'s Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has been notified of the incident.
“Any incident that involves use of force (is) subject to a full internal review as standard practice,” she said in an email.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Michele Brunoro
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.