Peel police have released body camera footage from a protest outside the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton earlier this month, and say it shows an officer lawfully disarming a demonstrator.
In a news release issued Thursday, police said the body camera footage was being released after another video previously posted on social media showed an altercation between an officer and the protester from the Nov. 3 protest.
Videos circulating on social media show demonstrators holding banners in support of Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh homeland in northern India, and clashing with other individuals, including some holding India’s national flag.
“Peel Regional Police understands that the video caused concern in the community,” the statement reads. “We take all complaints about officer conduct seriously and have conducted a review of the incident.”
Investigators say that public safety became a concern during the protest, so officers decided to seize any items that could be used as a weapon.
“Following an investigation, it was determined that the officer depicted in the video was attempting to disarm an individual who refused to surrender their weapon and became confrontational, and accordingly acted within the lawful execution of his duties,” the statement reads.
Several people have been arrested and charged in the wake of the incident.
‘A very rare move,’ Peel police deputy chief says
Releasing the body camera footage was a “very rare move” but was done to correct misinformation and narratives about potentially biased policing, Peel police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews said on Friday.
“The body-worn camera demonstrates the actions of the officer were justified,” he said in an interview with CBC’s Metro Morning.
Andrews said community members in the region have been working together “to take some of the tension out of the air, to look for ways to find common ground and to move the process forward.”
He added, “that doesn’t mean that all the tension has been removed, but cooler heads have prevailed.”
Andrews also said Peel police are continuing to investigate the behaviour of one of their officers, who was suspended from duty after participating in the protest.