Montreal organizations want answers about high police presence at Black community event

Community groups are demanding answers from the City of Montreal after what they call excessive police presence at a Black community event on June 24, 2022.

Fifteen community organizations, that serve racialized and religious minorities in Montreal, have written a letter to Mayor Valérie Plante – and the official opposition at city hall, to get answers after police presence at an event in Lachine last month.

On June 24, members and supporters of the Spice Island Cultural Day Association in Quebec held a fundraiser at Greenz Restaurant to support the annual Spice Island Cultural Festival.

Organizers say multiple police cars and officers from the Montreal police, the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP showed up, allegedly in response to noise complaints.

“I asked them what was going on, because we were caught by surprise,” said Gemma Raeburn-Baynes, vice-president of the Spice Island Cultural Day Association of Quebec, at a press conference on Wednesday. “They say they got two calls about noise and I said, ‘So you bring the RCMP for noise?’ We were very, very, surprised by what happened. We thought it was very, very, excessive what they did.”

“I couldn’t figure it out at all. It was not warranted. There were no fights. No quarrels, no nothing.”

(Screen grab from video provided by TNKR MEDIA)

A video taken on the site shows the scene and organizers say the sudden arrival of the police cars wrapped entirely around the restaurant shocked and intimidated them.

The exchange lasted about half an hour – in that time officers spoke to those in attendance – and questions other than those pertaining to a noise complaint were asked.

Organizers say questions were focused on a required permit and a liquor license – something they say was cleared with the City of Montreal prior to the event and that they did not require a liquor license as they were not serving alcohol.

#WATCH : “Very excessive,” says Gemma Raeburn-Baynes part of the Spice Island Cultural Day Association in Quebec, about the amount of police presence, at a fundraising event, which included the anti-gang Eclipse Squad, the Sûreté du Québec, and the RCMP. @sicdaq @CRARRorg pic.twitter.com/ujWI7gqoeI

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) July 13, 2022

In a statement, the SPVM said, “As part of the CENTAURE strategy, police officers from the Éclipse squad along with the Sûreté du Québec and the RCMP make sporadic visits in various bars and restaurants in Montreal. The Éclipse squad offers support to other police units, gathers information and increases police presence and the population’s sense of security. On June 24, following a noise complaint, the Éclipse squad showed up at an establishment on Saint-Jacques street to support officers from neighborhood station 8. After speaking to organizers about ambient noise in the parking lot of the establishment, police officers left the scene without giving any tickets.”

CityNews reached to Mayor Plante’s office for comment and they said: “Our administration is committed, along with the SPVM to fight against racial and social profiling, as evidenced by the adoption of the very first police stop policy in Quebec within the SPVM. The SPVM will be asked to meet with the organizers and discuss this event in order to ensure the success of future editions and we will follow up with the group on this issue.”

Aref Salem, leader of the Official Opposition at Montreal City Hall, said in a statement: “Any suspicion of racial profiling must be treated with the utmost attention. The City of Montreal has made commitments in this regard following the release of the OCPM report on racism and systemic discrimination. We have sent a request to meet with organizations to see how we can support them in their requests.”

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“In all my work in this area, I’ve never seen the RCMP, the SQ and the Eclipse squad coming on before over a noise complaint at a party,” said Fo Niemi, Executive Director, Center for Research-Action on Race Relations. “If that’s the case, there’s a change in the policy and that’s a very bad for use of police resources.”

“What happened on June 24th was very disturbing to us. And it’s a bad impact on the business. It’s not a good image for a business that got 15 police cars parked up in front of a restaurant,” said Leo Charles, the owner of Greenz restaurant in Lachine.

He add that, not only does it impact his business but also impacted the fundraising efforts of the Spice Island Cultural Day Association in Quebec – with organizers saying they lost over a thousand dollars.

#WATCH: Community groups are demanding answers from the City of Montreal after experiencing, what they call excessive police presence at a fundraising event for the annual Spice Island Cultural Festival on June 24, 2022. @sicdaq @CRARRorg

READ: https://t.co/UnB1ty3RCK pic.twitter.com/2QWG0QIXME

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) July 13, 2022

“If that’s the way that the police practices does policing, it can be very harmful to Black business because both Black and non-Black customers will be afraid to come,” said Niemi.

“One of the most troubled things about this situation is the total silence, the refusal to give any formal, clear and transparent explanation as to what exactly happened.”