Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Blaming the Victim - Mountie-Style


Robert Dziekanski was derided as a "whackjob" by the lawyer for Kwesi Millington, the RCMP constable who tasered Dziekanski to death at Vancouver airport.

Ravi Hira, the lawyer for Const. Kwesi Millington, stressed witness accounts that paint Dziekanski as a "whackjob" and an "unusual passenger" and made constant reference to potential alcoholism.

"It's relevant to perhaps the cause of death. It's relevant to perhaps his actions. It's relevant to why he acted the way he did," Hira said after commissioner Thomas Braidwood questioned his approach during closing submissions.

All the while, a heartbroken Cisowski twisted and turned in her seat at every remark and had to be restrained at times by her victims' services handler.

"Oh my God," she cried. "Oh my gosh."

Public observers at the inquiry offered their support to the grieving mother, who confessed listening to the remarks was "so upsetting."

So that's what it's come down to. The officers' defence is going to be that Dziekanski got what he had coming to him. His death was his own doing. Isn't that the same thing they said about Ian Bush when they blew his brains out with a bullet to the back of his head while in police custody?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This hearing just gets uglier and uglier. Perhaps it's just the lawyers and RCMP who seem that way. I do wish our government would step in and do the right thing - get rid of the RCMP.