APEC – Commission Interim Report
Law student Brenna Bhandar attended the demonstration at the flagpole and joined the protesters sitting on the road near Gate 3. After seeing two protesters arrested she used a megaphone to urge the crowd to remain seated on the road. The complaint is that an officer wrongfully grabbed the megaphone from her and took hold of her arm.
This complaint was supported by the evidence given at the hearing by Ms. Bhandar. Although she was not a complainant in these proceedings, she consented to Mr. Oppenheim bringing this incident within the umbrella of his complaint. Mr. Oppenheim did that by including the following in his letter of complaint:
One woman, Brenna Bhandar, was addressing the blockade on Chancellor Blvd through a megaphone when she was assaulted by an officer who then ripped the megaphone from her hands. He later identified himself as officer Bracewell.
Mr. Oppenheim was not present when the incident occurred. He had been arrested moments before and taken away.
Mr. Oppenheim was incorrect in his identification of Cst. Bracewell. The officer who acted in the manner described by Ms. Bhandar was a member of the VPD, Insp. Christopher Offer, now retired. Immediately before this incident, Insp. Offer was part of the police line formed to prevent the protesters from moving forward. Cst. Bracewell, who was close by, saw that Insp. Offer had left his position in the line during a time of some commotion and Cst. Bracewell moved into the vacancy created by Insp. Offer's departure.
Ms. Bhandar said that very much on her mind were the arrests of the first person who had sat on the road that afternoon and of Mr. Oppenheim, which followed soon after, as well as Jaggi Singh's arrest the day before. When asked what she was saying over the megaphone, Ms. Bhandar said:
And so I was saying through the megaphone, that even though they are targeting and arresting people who they think are these leaders, we should stay on the road and stay seated.
Soon after her megaphone was seized, Ms. Bhandar and some friends approached Cst. Bracewell as he stood in the line and asked him to identify himself, which he did immediately. Ms. Bhandar was questioned about this:
Q: Now, you've testified that after your megaphone was taken away, you approached a Police Officer who you thought was the Officer who had taken your megaphone and you asked for his name?
A: It was just in the moments after that had happened. I mean, I was just sitting on the ground for just--after my friends had pulled me back down and then we sort of stood back up to ask for his name and his identification.
Q: Okay. And that Officer identified himself to you as Constable Bracewell?
A: Yes.
I have no doubt that Ms. Bhandar sincerely believed that Cst. Bracewell was the officer who had taken her megaphone. She was mistaken. She was unaware that Cst. Bracewell had stepped into Insp. Offer's place in the line. There was no conversation with Cst. Bracewell about whether he was the officer who had taken the megaphone. Ms. Bhandar approached Cst. Bracewell believing that he was that person.
The evidence of the two police officers satisfies me beyond any doubt that Cst. Bracewell was not involved in the incident involving Ms. Bhandar. He was aware of the disturbance and confusion at the time of the incident but he did not see the actual taking of the megaphone. Insp. Offer unhesitatingly accepted responsibility for seizing the megaphone. He explained:
I seized the megaphone. I could hear this--the woman, I don't recall her name, but, the woman encouraging the group to sit on the road. She was using the megaphone then to encourage people to go to other--another gate, suggesting that the motorcades were going to come from some other direction. I--in my opinion, she was counselling people to commit mischief, a criminal offence, a breach of the peace and she was using this to organize the groups to go down to other gates. I had a conversation with Acting Sergeant Rainey, he went out and talked to the people, directing their attention towards him. I called her over to the Police line. She walked over there. I grabbed the megaphone and wrenched it out of her hands and pushed her back.
I have no jurisdiction to address the alleged actions of members of the VPD. No RCMP members were involved in Mr. Oppenheim's complaint regarding the seizure of the megaphone and the alleged assault against Ms. Bhandar. That concludes my consideration of the matter.