A group of people gathered outside Edmonton police headquarters downtown Sunday afternoon to protest the use of force during an arrest last Thursday.
EPS says an officer responded to a fight between two women, one of whom had a knife, in the area of 100 Street and 106 Avenue this afternoon.
The officer asked the woman to drop the knife, but she refused and walked away, police said in a statement Friday.
“The officer considered the use of force options given that the suspect was armed and determined that pushing her to the ground would require the least amount of force possible to allow him to safely arrest the suspect,” the statement said .
The 12-second video does not show what led up to the incident. When the video is zoomed in, an object appears to fall from the woman’s hand as she is pushed.
The officer recovered a knife and the woman was arrested for possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, police said.
EPS reviewed the arrest and said there were no grounds for an investigation.
Protesters on Sunday called the stampede “rude behavior”.
“Especially for one of our most vulnerable: a small, petite woman who was actually walking away and had her back to him and therefore wasn’t expecting a blow of this magnitude and of course that sent her flying,” said Judith Gale with the home of the Bear Clan Beaver Hills.
“She’s lucky as hell she never hit her head and died right there on the sidewalk.”
Gale called on police to release CCTV footage they have of the arrest, but EPS said it would not make it public.
Rob Flamant, who addressed the crowd at the protest, said he was “absolutely disgusted” by the video.
Another protester, Michelle Nieviadomi, told CTV News it was important for her to raise the issue of systemic injustices and stand up for the community.
EPS was aware of the protest and said it had reached out to organizers to support their rights to demonstrate safely.
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Joe Scarpelli
Add Comment