Crown prosecutors have stayed charges of obstruction of justice against a former UBC football player who was Tasered multiple times after police stopped him for jaywalking.
Jamiel Moore-Williams told CTV News he’s feeling like things are “moving in the right direction” after the controversial arrest in February, which was caught on video by a friend with a cellphone.
“It’s a sigh of relief,” Moore-Williams said from Toronto. “I think these guys were scared. They see a bigger black guy, they’re interested in me. For why, I don’t understand.
“It sticks with you a long time. Not something you can shake off,” he said.
The charges were stayed after crown prosecutors looked at an independent report into the incident, said Moore-Williams’ lawyer, Donna Turko.
“It was the work of the independent investigator and the RCMP that brought us to this point,” Turko said.
Back in February, Moore-Williams crossed Helmken Street in Downtown Vancouver against the light early Sunday morning, in front of a police car. The car honked, he responded with a gesture, and officers arrested him.
At the time, officers claimed Moore-Williams had put an officer in a headlock and resisted arrest, charging him with two counts of obstruction of justice.
But a video recorded by Moore-Williams’s friend shows no headlock, with Moore-Williams repeatedly offering his ID to about seven officers who took him down to the street level.
Then, the video shows one officer kneeing or kicking him in the head and another deploys a Taser. Turko said it was deployed 14 times.
“That was totally out of proportion. Police are supposed to respond in a proportional way,” said SFU Associate Professor June Francis, who also co-chairs the Hogan’s Alley Society.
“They turned a minor infraction, if it existed, into a major issue, where the person becomes the victim of their own attacks,” she said.
Francis, who is black, said repeated portrayals of black people as threats have been internalized into many people, including police, and in order to treat people fairly, authorities must recognize their own internal biases.
“They see us as threats, just by existing in our bodies. They immediately turn from serving us and protecting us, to become our attackers. They feel threatened just by who we are,” she said.
The Vancouver Police Department didn’t offer any comment, pointing out that their officers remain under a Police Act investigation. Court documents show two officers involved in the incident are under criminal investigation.
The force has come under criticism for its street checks, which have disproportionately checked black and First Nations people. The VPD has implemented six recommendations to improve their procedures, but deny they are conducting any checks in a discriminatory manner.
Moore-Williams has also sued and filed a human rights complaint that is headed for mediation.
“I think he wants to see some awareness on the Vancouver Police Department in what he believes is bias,” Turko said.
