Months before last week’s Ottawa police raid that ended in the death of a young Black man, a judge found the city’s police department was defaulting to using no-knock warrants in all drugs and guns cases, reflecting “serious misconduct” and a “casual disregard for Charter rights.”
On October 7, Ottawa police executed a search warrant at the apartment of Anthony Aust and his family using a tactic called “dynamic entry,” where officers burst into a home unannounced. A family video of the encounter showed at least eight officers bursting into the apartment before yelling “police don’t move!” and setting off a flash grenade. Their rifles were drawn.
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Ottawa-based criminal defence attorney Michael Spratt said the police force’s use of dynamic entry arrests for “run of the mill drug allegations” is a “recipe for harm.”
“It shows a completely cavalier attitude to restraint that we should all be seeing from police forces,” he said.
Aust’s family is now waiting for the Special Investigations Unit to make a finding on whether or not there are grounds to lay a criminal charge against any of the officers involved.
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Read Manisha Krishnan fill article: Vice News
