VANCOUVER - RCMP officers arrived at the Vancouver airport looking for a fight, a lawyer for Robert Dziekanski's mother said Thursday.
Const. Bill Bentley has told a public inquiry into Dziekanski's death that the officers didn't have a plan the night Dziekanski died in October 2007, and only used a Taser when he became resistant and picked up a stapler.
But Bentley has also testified that Mounties headed straight for Dziekanski without talking to bystanders, and admitted he asked the other officers whether anyone had a Taser before they ever reached him.
They had been dispatched to the airport to respond to what they were told was a drunk man tossing furniture through windows -- although Dziekanski wasn't drunk and the officers found no broken glass when they arrived.
Walter Kosteckyj, the lawyer for Dziekanski's mother, suggested that the officers arrived looking for a fight.
During his cross-examination of Bentley, the second of the four officers to appear before the inquiry, Kosteckyj pointed out that Bentley didn't gather any information before hopping over a railing and engaging Dziekanski. He said the officers had already made up their minds.
"Because your mindset was, from the minute you left the detachment, `I'm in for a fight,' right?" asked Kosteckyj.
"It was in the back of my mind to be prepared for a fight," replied Bentley.
The officer said he believed it was Dziekanski who was looking for a fight.
While Bentley described Dziekanski as calm and co-operative with his hands at his sides as officers approached, he has also testified that his training and "gut instinct" led him to believe the man could become violent.
From roughly 25 metres away, Bentley said he could see "debris" of broken furniture at Dziekanski's feet, although Kosteckyj suggested the broken chair and computer can't be seen on a video shot by a witness standing much closer.
Kosteckyj took Bentley through his RCMP training, focusing on the need to avoid confrontation.
"Was there any reason that one of you couldn't have taken intelligence from the people that were there?" said Kosteckyj.
"From the initial radio broadcast we received, it did sound like the call was urgent and the threat level was fairly high," Bentley said. "I don't think at the time there was time to speak to the (witnesses)."
Kosteckyj pointed out that parts of Bentley's testimony differed from what he wrote in his police notebook that night and in statements he later gave to investigations.
He told police investigators that day that Dziekanski began looking for a weapon as soon as police approached him. However, after watching the video, Bentley acknowledged Dziekanski didn't pick up the stapler until after interacting with the officers.
His notes said Dziekanski was screaming and coming at the officers before the Taser was used, the officers had to tackle him to bring him to the ground, and one of the officers was checking Dziekanski's pulse.
He has since said those notes were incorrect, that he was tired when he wrote them and the a witness' video refreshed his memory.
Kosteckyj suggested the officer was trying to "cover your butt."
"Is that what this was about, making sure that you were justified in using force?" he asked.
"There was no cover-up if that's what you're getting at, I was just being honest and truthful," replied Bentley.
The two officers who have appeared before the inquiry have said that they feared for their safety and the safety of bystanders because Dziekanski grabbed a stapler and became resistant.
The Crown announced in December that Bentley, Const. Gerry Rundel, Const. Kwesi Millington and Cpl. Benjamin Robinson would not face criminal charges. However, the inquiry's commissioner could still make findings of misconduct against the officers or anyone else involved.
