Ontario’s police watchdog has found that a Toronto police officer punched a pro-Palestinian demonstrator and broke his nose during a downtown protest in June to defend another officer “from a reasonably apprehended assault.”
As a result, the director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Joseph Martino, said he would not be laying charges against the officer.
On Wednesday, the SIU released the findings of its investigation into the June 8, 2024, incident that occurred outside the U.S. Consulate at the intersection of University Avenue and Armoury Street.
Police were in the area to maintain order and preserve the peace during a pro-Palestinian demonstration. The SIU said officers tried to seize a large flag being held up by protesters after they received information that some were painting the roadway red underneath.
A 29-year-old man, identified as the Complainant in the report, was one of the people holding the flag when police tried to confiscate it.
The SIU said the man became involved in a hand swatting incident with an officer, designated as witness officer #3 (WO # 3), who tried to remove his grip from the flag.
“Within moments of that scuffle, he was struck in the face by a right-handed punch from SO,” the SIU said. The SO, or subject official, is the officer whose conduct is under investigation.
“The SO, standing in the vicinity of the flag, had observed the Complainant and WO #3 swatting each other’s hands. He quickly moved in and punched the Complainant.”
The incident was caught on camera and posted on social media.
The punch stunned the Complainant, the SIU said, causing him to stumble backward. The 29-year-old was diagnosed with a broken nose the following day.
According to the SIU, it was the lawyer of the Complainant and not the Toronto police who notified the agency on June 17.
In his report, Martino said the officers were in lawful execution of their duties when they attempted to seize the flag as they believed mischief was occurring with the road being painted red underneath it.
The SIU director noted that there was evidence to suggest that the SO punched the Complainant to defend another officer from “a reasonably apprehended assault.”
“That is what the officer asserted in a police report he filed in respect of the incident, and it is a claim that finds support in the evidence,” Martino said, adding that the SO was seen in a video observing the prior hand-swatting skirmish.
“While it did not appear that the Complainant meant to do WO #3 any harm when he swatted his hand away, his conduct could reasonably be construed as an assault on the officer.”
Furthermore, Martino said he was satisfied by the SO’s use of force, concluding that it was within the range of what was reasonable to defend the other officer.
While the hand-swatting confrontation did not involve serious violence and the SO could have simply moved the Complainant away and not punched him, the SIU director said, “The atmosphere at the time was highly charged—there was evidence of anti-police rhetoric by some protesters, and the two sides were now struggling for control of the flag.”
“One can understand why the SO would have wanted to immediately deter the assault on WO #3 with decisive force before it was given any opportunity to escalate. On this record, I am unable to reasonably conclude that the punch struck by the SO, though perhaps at the upper end of what was reasonable, was excessive.”
Toronto police ended up charging four people in connection with that demonstration.
