Suzanne Fournier, Vancouver, B.C. (Vancouver Province) – RCMP media spokesman Sgt. Pierre Lemaitre took the stand at the Braidwood inquiry Tuesday morning to explain why there were so many stark “errors” made in what police told the media about Robert Dziekanski’s death.
But Lemaitre revealed two key facts for the first time at the inquiry yesterday: That he viewed part of the Pritchard bystander video that contradicts what he told the media, and that Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson, who supervised the three other officers who handled Dziekanski, attended the homicide investigators’ briefing after the event.
“When I saw the video footage on a laptop . . . there might have been 12 people in the room, and Cpl. Robinson was there,” testified Lemaitre, noting that he didn’t know who Robinson was until he saw him on the video.
Robinson, who testified for almost two days at the inquiry, did not admit that he was present at an IHIT briefing, denied “cooking up” a story with his fellow officers and said he went straight back to the RCMP airport office.
Lemaitre said the briefing was held at the RCMP Richmond office, not the airport, at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 14, 2007.
Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant who spent 30 hours travelling to a new life in Canada, became frustrated and threw furniture after failing to meet his mother at the airport. Four RCMP officers Tasered and restrained Dziekanski, who lost consciousness during the restraint and didn’t get oxygen or any lifesaving measures until it was too late.
Lemaitre said, “I went, ‘Dale, what do you want me to say?’ ” and that he simply repeated what Carr told him to say.
“My contact, my source of information, was Dale.”
But Lemaitre also admitted: “I remember seeing video on a laptop for about a minute,” viewing “the segment where Mr. Dziekanski is Tasered and what I saw were three members struggling with him.”
The RCMP have been heavily criticized for public statements about the Tasering and restraint of Dziekanski, for saying that three rather than four members were involved, that Dziekanski continued to be “violent” after police arrived, and that police attempted to calm him before Tasering and had to Taser him twice because he fought back.
None of those “facts” is true, as shown by the bystander Pritchard video that is shown repeatedly at the inquiry.
This morning, Lemaitre testified that he got all his information from IHIT spokesman Cpl. Dale Carr about what he was “cleared” to tell the media about events at the airport in the early hours of Oct. 14, 2007.
Lemaitre said he got a call from Carr at 4:30 a.m. that morning, attended the briefing about 7:30 a.m. with Carr, Robinson and a dozen plainclothes officers the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, then went to the airport to meet with the media already gathered there.
IHIT investigates all deaths that occur, as Dziekanski’s did, in police custody.
Lemaitre agreed with commission counsel Art Vertlieb that he did not see on the Pritchard video “chairs flying,” which is what he told the media had occurred, nor did he see Dziekanski continue to be violent after police arrived.
But Lemaitre, an RCMP officer since 1986 who has worked detachments all over B.C., said he could not judge what another officer determined to be a violent suspect, because “I wasn’t there.”
Delta police Const. Craig Baltzer, a Taser instructor who was asked to download data from the actual Taser X26 used on Dziekanski, testified earlier Tuesday morning that he did not receive from the RCMP the probes or wires of the Taser.
These could have been forensically analyzed for valuable information such as DNA, pieces of clothing, or human blood or tissue from the Tasered subject.
The Taser parts also could have been analyzed to determine whether it was operating correctly on a closed circuit, giving the victim what is termed “full current,” Baltzer said.
He agreed that current police training on Taser use recommends only cautious use of multiple Taser stuns.
“You are put through an extreme workout . . . and (police) have to be careful,” said Baltzer, who explained that he experienced multiple Taser stuns as part of his training to be an instructor.
“Physically everything is ramped-up, whether from the shock and awe of the effects of the Taser . . . but yes, you are elevated in excitement,” said Baltzer.
He also agreed with lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, acting for Dziekanski’s mother Zofia Cisowski, that Dziekanski appeared, on the Pritchard video, to have gotten the full pain effect of the Taser with the first blast.
The inquiry continues, with Lemaitre on the stand for the rest of Tuesday and Carr slated to testify later this week.
Knowing the video exists, and giving a statement with inconsistencies, is indication of relating the events as you saw them regardless of other external influences. To think that they would take something from a witness and destroy it to cover their ass is right out there with ufo abductions. You still have a witness don’t you? Or perhaps maybe you think they would get rid of him too?
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An Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, the officer in charge and twelve plain clothes officers at a debriefing sounds pretty much like they were concerned.
Now who would watch a video of the incident and not conclude something is wrong and why would those four officers give statements like that knowing what the video had on it unless they were going to keep the video from the public and destroy it later.
I wonder who all those people were and will they be called to testify??
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