Edmonton Muslim community seeks answers after man arrested, restrained during traffic stop
CBC
The National Council of Canadian Muslims said a man who was restrained on the ground with a knee to his neck by an Edmonton Police Service officer following a traffic stop is filing a formal complaint.
In a one-minute clip the organization shared on social media, the man can be seen being restrained by two Edmonton Police Service officers.
One of the officers can be seen with his knee on the back of of the man's neck, a use of force that has been highly criticized over the years particularly following the 2020 killing of George Floyd in the United States.
The group also provided CBC News with the full-length five-minute and 57-second video on condition that it not be published. The NCCM would not provide CBC News with the man's name citing privacy concerns for the man and his family.
According to police, officers in Edmonton's south stopped the man for driving 47 km/h in a playground zone.
The man was leaving a mosque on April 21 with his wife and two children, following Eid al-Fitr prayer.
Police said in a statement the man refused to give officers his name, licence, insurance, or registration, which led to police warning the man he would be arrested.
According to a statement from the NCCM, the man felt officers were agitated and he worried for his safety. The statement adds that he asked for a supervisor to be present before providing documentation.
Officers removed the man from his car, restrained him, and arrested him.
In the video, filmed by the man's wife, the man can be heard calling the two officers racist and screaming.
One officer tells the man's wife, "please tell your husband to relax," she responds by saying, "you are not supposed to do this, can you please stop?"
Young children can also be heard crying in the background.
In a statement from EPS, spokesperson Cheryl Sheppard said the man was ticketed for speeding, failure to provide his driver's licence, and registration and insurance, then told he was free to go. The man asked to be taken to the hospital saying he had a sore shoulder.
Dan Jones, associate chair of justice studies at NorQuest College and a retired Edmonton police officer, said when a person is stopped for a crime they are required by law to provide identification, unlike during a random street stop.
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