G20 cop faces charges

[bcholmes]

A criminal charge placed against a police officer who is alleged to have assaulted a demonstrator during the G20 Summit in downtown Toronto came as a result of the public standing up for itself, one civil liberties expert said.

Graeme Norton, of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said it is unlikely anything would have come from the incident if other demonstrators had not been there to video tape the arrest of Adam Nobody on June 26.

[...]

On Tuesday, Ontario's Special Investigations Unit announced that a Toronto police office had been charged with assault with a weapon, following the review of video tape of [Adam] Nobody's arrest made available on YouTube.

The arms-length agency had originally ruled that while Nobody appeared to have been roughed up, it was impossible to identify the perpetrator. The charge came after more evidence was presented to the SIU.

"It was only after the public came forward with additional information in the form of video tape and photographic evidence that we have now seen charges being laid," Norton said.

The arrest came after an extended investigation that had originally been closed without any charges being laid.

— "G20 officer charge came from public policing: expert", CTV