An Ottawa police officer is facing a charge of manslaughter in a case involving a particular type of gloves that police sometimes wear.
These are not your woolen winter gloves, or thin leather driving gloves however, they are reinforced across the knuckles and are usually marketed as either “tactical gloves” or more commonly “assault gloves”.
These are made by a number of companies including Oakley. Contacted by the CBC, an Oakley representative said, “Think about it as a pair of brass knuckles on a glove”.
The case centres on the death of a man being arrested on suspicion of groping women in a coffee shop on July 24th. His family said Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian, had unspecified mental issues.
After the alleged coffee shop incident, two policemen caught up with him and restrained him at his apartment building doorstep. A video camera caught the altercation and witnesses say the man was pepper sprayed, hit with batons and punched. Abdi later died.
Ottawa police Const. Daniel Montsion, 36 is an anti-gang officer with the direct action response team, or DART, and was apparently issued the special gloves. He was one of the two officers initially involved in the incident and is facing criminal charges involving the gloves which are now being scrutinized as a possible weapon.
Heather Badenach, a communications consultant, has watched unreleased video from a surveillance camera along with some staff members from the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization which operates the apartment building where Abdi lived and where police caught him.
Quoted by the CBC she says, “When Abdi is lying on the ground, face down and still, the constable who has been charged punches him in the head very violently, twice, and we never see Abdi move again”.
Because of the death, the Special Investigation Unit was called to investigate. This is a civilian agency for police oversight.
As a result of their investigation Const. Montsion has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon.
He has been suspended with pay and will appear in court on March 29th
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