Man alleges racial profiling after police draw guns on him in Repentigny park

Hèzu Kpowbié says he thought he might die two weeks ago when three Repentigny police officers pointed their guns at him in a park near his home, as his son watched.

"I honestly thought that I could be killed," said Kpowbié, 42, a digital media worker who is black. "I pulled out my phone and started recording, so if something happened to me, at least people would know what happened."

Kpowbié said he was walking to the park with his eight-year-old son and his son's friend on the afternoon of Sept. 15, when the friend dropped a letter opener he'd had been carrying to fix a toy. Kpowbié picked it up because the child was biking.

When they got to the park, three police officers pulled their guns at him, he said.

Kpowbié used his cellphone to film two minutes and 20 seconds of the encounter with police. The video begins after the incident has already started to unfold: police officers can be seen pointing their guns at him and telling him to get on the ground.

Catégories

Type de document: