This is an analysis of videos collected online from the 26 mars 2015 Ville de Québec protest. (*1)
On the 26th of March 2015, the liberal government of Philippe Couillard submitted its budget. The “Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante” (ASSÉ) organised a protest in Quebec city against the severe austerity measures detailed in the budget.
At some point in time the protesters reached the National Assembly and were blocked from moving forward by a line of Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ). The protesters chanted well known slogans “a good cop is one in a cemetery” that are connected with the events in reference to reactions against police brutality that ended up with the loss of civilian lives, Fredy Villanueva, Mario Hamel, Patrick Limoges, Jean-François Nadreau, Alain Magloire, Guy Blouin and others. Regardless of what the protesters were chanting, the SPVQ is bound by rules and regulations and the unproportional use of force which they employed against the protesters does not conform to the professionalism expected from officers of the law bound by specific rules of engagement.
There are two video compilations of two separate incidents where the SPVQ weapons were fired head-level directly from a short distance at the protesters and where SPVQ officers used batons to deliver blows directly to the heads of protesters, both of these maneuvers are non sanctions and inadmissible according to court rulings and basic instructions of the instruments used by the SPVQ.
The following is the first video compilation which shows the protesters when they arrived at the National Assembly and where confronted by a line of SPVQ:
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/Ifp4pSpe09Y” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”no” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
The protesters attempted to push through the police line non-violently and were repelled with an overwhelming use of disproportional force by the SPVQ. It would stand to reason that our tax money goes towards the proper training of our police services, on that day it was clearly evident that such training was either ignored or not administered properly considering the unacceptable and unsanctioned methods of violence used to suppress the non-violent student protesters.
Looking at time mark 00:00:19:22 we see SPVQ officer 3198 (red tag on helmet) directing a blow of his baton directly to the head of one protester. It is important to note that the Police are forbidden to hit anyone on the head in such a manner.
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/-edTn6CfoeA” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”yes” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
At time mark 00:00:22:23 we see SPVQ officer 5423 (red tag on helmet) delivering yet another blow to the head to the same protester already hit on the head by SPVQ officer 3198
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/0lbviqHen_s” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”yes” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
After this point the protesters back off from the police and others are pushed back. The protesters no longer pose a threat (by proximity) to the SPVQ and the protesters have, at this point, been overpowered. There is a gap between the protesters and the SPVQ and the protesters have not yet had time to recover from the aggressive push-back of the SPVQ
Enter Officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143) who caries with him a “37mm single gas launcher” developed by “Defense Technology”, a company that specializes in the making of “sub-lethal” weapons. For more information on the weapon, ammunition along with court rulings and weapon use safety instructions please see article published by GAPPA on 99%Media’s website.
Officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143 – red tag on helmet) levels his gas launcher directly at head level of the protesters and from a short distance fires the first a shot of “muzzle blast round” form his 37mm single gas launcher directly in the face of Naomie Trudeau-Tremblay, who had just been shoved back by other officers of the SPVQ.
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/v6Z5O53LZDk” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”yes” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
This was the result:
Here is a video of the moment being shown in the picture above.
Here is a RDI-CBC interview with Naomie Trudeau-Tremblay.
Less than 2 seconds after the first round was fired, while officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143) was retreating to reload his weapon another officer steps in and sprays the protesters, including an already injured Naomie Trudeau-Tremblay, with what appears to be a big cayenne pepper sprayer.
By Time mark 00:00:30:09 – three seconds after Naomie Trudeau-Tremblay was shot in the face- officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143) reloads his weapon and moves in the direction of group of protesters that where already being pushed back and pepper sprayed by other officers.
At time mark 00:00:37:29, approximately 10 seconds after the first round was fired, officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143) levels his gun, again at head level of the protesters, and fires his second round.
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/FnXNJwTqRDs” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”yes” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
Shortly after officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143) fires the second round, officer SPVQ #315(9?) – (red tag on helmet) steps in and fires the third shot directly at the protesters from close range at time mark 00:00:40:13 (13 seconds after the first shot fired by officer Charles-Scott Simard (SPVQ #3143).
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/L8_ag-Fuq0E” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”no” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
In the video the identity of officer SPVQ #315(9?) is not clear but we found a photo matching the exact moment he fired the third round with his ID number in plain sight except for the last digit which we suspect is a 9.
At time mark 00:00:43:06 we see the third gunner in the background. We could not identify him in this video and we can not be sure that this is the same gunner who takes the fourth shot in the second video.
Several minutes later, but relatively in the same area, yet another shot was fired by officer SPVQ #5147 (Yellow tag on helmet) and caught on video by Simon Lussier, 99%Media’s livestreamer who noted the ID of the officer by sight.
[su_youtube_advanced url=”http://youtu.be/8roXCUhA3rM” width=”420″ height=”320″ controls=”yes” autohide=”yes” rel=”no” modestbranding=”yes”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGXWDrtrPs0[/su_youtube_advanced]
Officer SPVQ #5147 (Yellow tag on helmet) fired his round at time mark (from video 2) 02:00:22:05 and was identified positively at time mark 02:01:07:27
Here is a clearer image of officer SPVQ #5147
After officer SPVQ #5147 fires his round he can be seen falling backwards on the snow. No one pushed him, he just slipped.
And a few seconds later, another SPVQ officer with a «37mm single gas launcher» falls face down in the snow. No one pushed him, he just slipped.
References:
(*1)
VIDEO 1
CAM 1: Biron Desbois Youtube Vid ID: Knu4o5-WtpY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knu4o5-WtpY
CAM 2: Michel Labelle – Youtube Vid ID: CnoWd2FG6wA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnoWd2FG6wA
Ruptly – Youtube Vid ID: W_rTgm1aLPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_rTgm1aLPk
CAM 3: Huffington Post – AOL vid ID: 518732115_8 http://on.aol.com/video/manifestation-devant-le-parlement—qu-bec-518732115
VIDEO 2:
Simon Lussier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ-qtaESvYg
Ruptly – Youtube Vid ID: W_rTgm1aLPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_rTgm1aLPk
