After a video showing an incident between Toronto police officers and a Black teenager went viral, an investigation was launched, according to The Star.
Bethany McBride is a Toronto-based chef who witnessed the whole ordeal and posted video of the incident online. McBride told reporters that she was riding the Toronto Transit Commission at the same time of the incident. She told CityNews that she first saw the teen getting off the public transit’s streetcar when two police officers grabbed him by his collar and dragged him back toward them.
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McBride told reporters she assumed the 15-year-old was caught off guard and therefore shoved the officer who grabbed him. The two officers reportedly pinned him to the ground and held him there for over 20 minutes. McBride adds that three other TTC officers joined in to handcuff the teen and hold him down on the ground.
That’s when McBride began to videotape the incident between the police officers and the teenager. She says that she had not seen the young teen resisting arrest.
McBride caught the whole thing on two short videos and uploaded them to Facebook. The videos capturing the actions of the police officers have both had over 800 shares and more than 82,000 views.
See the video: https://www.facebook.com/Bethany.ej.McBride/posts/10156138987257953
Her caption read, “On my streetcar a black teenaged boy shoved a fare collector who put his hands on him …. and this happens. They held him down screaming for twenty mins. 5 white cops on one black kid. #fuckyoutorontopolice #shameonyou”
In McBride’s video, the teen can be heard yelling, “I didn’t do anything, though. Please, you’re hurting me, you’re hurting me, you’re hurting me.”
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“I did not hear anyone ask him for proof of payment before grabbing him,” McBride said to TheStar. “He looked banged up, terrified and humiliated.”
The altercation between the police officers and the unidentified teen is reportedly under investigation.
Stuart Green, spokesperson for the TTC, said that they are “concerned about the events leading up to this altercation and are taking the incident seriously. We are currently conducting internal investigation, including reviewing exactly what happened and why, and we will take appropriate action where necessary.”
The Star reported that the Toronto police declared that no criminal charges were filed against the teenager.
McBride told reporters that she would not have been treated in that same way even if she had not paid her fare.
“If I was getting off the streetcar nobody would have grabbed me like that, and I’m sure that even if they did and had I practiced fare evasion and not had a transfer, I would not have been detained or treated that way,” McBride said. “And I know that the argument could be made that that’s because I’m a woman, but it’s not because I’m a woman. It’s because I’m a white woman.”
We agree.