My Statement About The Need For Justice

A First-Person Narrative About Police Terror in Our City
by victim of police brutality, Shaq.

As we gather more information on this story, we will be posting it to the BASICS Free Community Newsletter website. Please check back for updates. More on this issue, including pictures of the terror, will appear in BASICS issue #14, due out in mid June.

Also see Radio Basics show from June 1, 2009, for a live interview with Shaq. alongside Salma Al-Nadhir, whose brother was senselessly murdered by Toronto police on October 31, 2007.

On Wednesday May 13, 2009, sometime between 9:50pm and 10:00pm, I was beat up by an officer of the law for telling other people in my neighborhood that the police were coming around.

I was with my friends in my neighborhood courtyard when I saw police driving around. I decided to warn some people by saying “6up” and the police heard me.

At that point, I started to make my way to a corner store after I had told the others that the police were around the area, and the police suddenly grabbed me off my bike, dragged me to a gate at a storage facility and brutally beat me up while ordering me that I should never alert anyone when the police are around, saying “When we come around you should never alert anyone.” They beat me and choked me, making it hard for me to speak or breathe. The whole right side of my face was made swollen, busting my lip, making it swollen, and also giving me bruises on my back, my chin and my neck, as well as a bloodshot (right) eye leaving me with not a single space in my eye that is white.

After they beat me up they asked my age and other info and let me go. I tried to ride my bike home but I fell off and fell to the ground. A friend had to carry me home. After that we called the police and two officers came to my door and left after the male officer told the female officer something in her ear. While they were leaving, a friend of mine and his mother asked the two officers if they were going to speak to my mother and then the male officer replied with a negative word (FU) to the mother and left immediately.

Ever since then I've been trying to get as much people to support me in finding these men and to support me along the way. I'm trying my best to go through this situation and keeping my confidence that I will find these men who did this to me.

My right side of my face still hurts and my eye is still red - some could even say that my eye makes me look inhuman.