Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Police hit teen in the head, put him in a chokehold, inquest told

A witness at a coroner’s inquest into the death of Junior Alexander Manon, who died in police custody in 2010, said Tuesday that the teen was struck on the head by an officer and put in a chokehold by another minutes before he died.

Shawn Williams testified that he was turning on to Founders Rd. after picking up his wife from her job at York University around 6:30 p.m., May 5, 2010, when Manon ran in front of their car.

Williams says he watched as one officer grabbed Manon and brought him to the ground, while the other hit him with what looked like a police radio and then crouched down and kneed him in the ribs.

The 18-year-old had run from Const. Michael Adams and Sgt. Stuart Blower moments before, after they tried to arrest him during a traffic stop on Steeles Ave. W.

Manon ran south and down Founders Rd. before he was caught by the officers, who tackled him to the ground. He died there of “positional asphyxia,” according to the province’s chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Pollanen.

An investigation completed by the Special Investigations Unit last January cleared the two officers. An SIU news release said that during the struggle “pressure was placed on (Manon’s) chest in a manner that could have caused it to compress and interfere with his breathing, a classic indicia of death caused by positional asphyxia.”

Legal wrangling over evidence has delayed the testimony of Const. Michael Adams, who was scheduled to testify last week.

On Tuesday, Coroner Dan Cass will hear submissions from the family’s lawyer as well as a lawyer for the officers, as to whether a report by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, which recommends Const. Michael Adams should be charged in the beating of Adam Nobody during the G20 summit, will be allowed into evidence.

Original Article
Source: Star 
Author: Patty Winsa 

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