An ‘Occupy Toronto' protester who claims to have suffered several facial injuries at the hands of police says she wasn't resisting arrest at the time.
A cell phone camera captured two officers wrestling Angela Turvey to the ground outside Osgoode Hall Friday afternoon and struggling to handcuff her as she bled heavily from an open wound along her eyebrow.
On Saturday Turvey, 36, was charged with obstructing a peace officer and assault with intent to resist arrest in connection with the incident.
"We are not commenting on the arrest, but I can say I was not resisting as I have a neck injury that prevents me from putting my hands behind my back," Turvey told reporters outside court after being released into the custody of her parents.
Turvey, who says she suffered a fractured eye socket and a broken nose during the course of her arrest, had been living outside Osgoode Hall as part of the ‘Occupy Toronto' movement.
She was arrested with three others Friday, as police enforced an eviction order.
Another protester affiliated with ‘Occupy Toronto' was arrested Friday evening during a rally demanding the release of the four.
"I have been on the street for almost two months. I have lived through snow and everything else on the front lawn of Osgoode Hall and this is the worst thing that has ever happened to me," Turvey told reporters. "It was very traumatic."
On Saturday Turvey's lawyer Michael Leitold told reporters that he would like to see the Special Investigations Unit probe the circumstances of his client's arrest.
The SIU is an arm's-length agency that investigates reports involving police where there has been death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.
"These injuries are serious enough to warrant an SIU review of the incident," he said. "Any orbital bone fracture, like what Angela has described, ought to be falling within the SIU mandate."
