A police officer’s knee was pressed against the neck of a University of Toronto student as he was tasered repeatedly to the ground with his hands behind his head before his identification proved what he told police they had the wrong man, se says in a statement of claim.
Hassani O’Gilvie is now suing Toronto police for $1.6 million in damages.
He said he noticed a cruiser following him on Aug. 12, 2021. O’Gilvey, 27 at the time, was stopping by a plaza in North York before catching a bus to the university’s downtown campus, according to a lawsuit.
In what police described as “mistaken identity” based on officer’s notes obtained by CTV News Toronto, O’Gilvey was not the young black man police were looking for. O’Gilvey’s claim continues that he said his name to convey that to the officer. But the confrontation continued.
Seconds later, another cop appeared, then another. O’Gilvey was tackled, tackled and tasered with an officer’s knee and leg attached to his neck as he complied with demands, on the ground with his hands behind his back, his claim said.
O’Gilvey is suing the Toronto police and the three officers involved for the damages caused that summer day, along with $50,000 for a Charter violation. His mother, Christine O’Gilvie, is also seeking $250,000 in damages under the Family Law Act.
The entire ordeal was captured on body cameras, according to O’Gilvey’s attorney, who viewed the tape. The charges have not been proven in court. For that reason, a Toronto police spokesperson said they could not comment on the case. It is scheduled to be heard in February 2024.
FALSE IDENTITY
According to one of the police officer’s notes, O’Gilvey had “the same description” as the prime suspect.
When O’Gilvey noticed a cruiser following him, he “feared for his safety,” the lawsuit said. He slipped into a walkway wedged between No Frills and another building in a plaza near Jane Street and Wilson Avenue. The cruiser followed. Sergeant Rachel Saliba got out of the car and began asking questions, the lawsuit says.
“Mr. Ogilvie provided his full name, but Defendant Sergeant Saliba did not believe him,” the suit states.
Another officer, Const. Gillian Bakiran, who soon joined, “physically restrained” and tried to arrest O’Gilvey “at Taser threat” until he “assured them he had done nothing and held his hands up in front of him to show that obeys, ” on the claim.
The situation “escalated” as a third officer, Const. Seth Rietkoetter, “immediately latched on” to O’Gilvie upon arrival.
“As the three defendant officers piled on top of Mr. Ogilvy, the defendant officer Rietkoetter placed his knee and foot on Mr. Ogilvy’s neck,” the filing alleges.
The suit states that although O’Gilvey was compliant with his hands behind his back, he was repeatedly tasered while he was “subdued, non-resisting, on the ground and restraints were applied.” Rietkoetter’s knee stayed on O’Gilvie’s neck as he continued to Taser him, according to the allegation.
“After Mr. Ogilvie was fully restrained, the defendant officers unlawfully searched Mr. Ogilvie’s purse, in which they found identification corroborating what he had told defendant Sergeant Saliba before she assaulted him,” the suit states .
The officers apologized and let O’Gilvie go. “He ran to safety.”
Toronto police confirmed to CTV News Toronto that the officers are still working for the police force.
MENTAL INJURIES
Scars scarred O’Gilvie’s face and he suffered soft tissue injuries to his upper body. But the emotional injuries have caused the most lasting damage, his lawyer says.
“The significant injuries are psychological,” David Shelnutt told CTV News Toronto.
Nightmares and memories haunt O’Gilvie’s sleep, leaving him with insomnia. Depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress permeated his days, his lawsuit said.
“Young black men, the impact of an attack on a government agency and all of that is pretty traumatic. We suspect that these injuries will last for years and require significant treatment to reverse, if at all,” Shelnutt said.
“Mr. O’Gilvey was detained, arrested and assaulted because he was a young black male and for no other lawful reason,” the lawsuit alleges. “This racial profiling of Mr. Ogilvy by the defendants was anti-black, discriminatory, unlawful and in violation of the terms of the Ontario Human Rights Code.”
Shellnutt points to the broader chronology of the incident. It’s been a year since George Floyd was pinned to the ground by an officer’s knee in Minneapolis. It was a year before former police chief James Ramer apologized to black and local communities after the release of race-based policing data that found black residents were 230 percent more likely to have an officer point a firearm at them when appear to be unarmed by the white people.
“And then they want more money,” Shelnutt said, referring to the recent approval of a $48.3 million increase in the Toronto police budget.
“I think Hassani’s story is not new to black people in Toronto. They have been condemning the use of force for years,” Shelnutt said.
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