G20 protesters ready for closure after settling lawsuits against Toronto police
Three protesters who alleged police brutality during the G20 summit in Toronto say they’re satisfied with a recent legal settlement and ready to move on with their lives.
By Jennifer Pagliaro Crime Reporter – Thursday, April 18, 2013
“I feel like this is, in a way, settled. I feel like the police have been held accountable,” said Nikos Kapetaneas, who was at Queen’s Park for a peaceful protest on June 26, 2010 when he was kicked in the back by an officer – as captured in a Star photograph and on video.
“I feel like we can sort of move on with our lives now.”
Kapetaneas was joined by partner Caitlin Morgan and Anna Grychtchenko outside Toronto police headquarters on College St. to announce the official settlement after all three filed a suit in small claims court for $25,000.
The amount settled for was not disclosed after the suits formally ended in December and March. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
All three protesters were at the park that day during the summit.
When officers entered the park, Kapetaneas and Morgan said they were surrounded despite being careful not to show any aggression towards police.
What happened next was captured in the Star photograph and described by Kapetaneas – an officer raising his black boot to kick him in the back. He winced, lurching forward in pain.
“We’ve been to protests before, but during the G20 it felt like a different presence. It felt like sort of a global police security clampdown,” Kapetaneas said. “It didn’t feel like the police we grew up with. It didn’t feel like the Toronto police.”
Morgan claimed she sought medical treatment after being kicked in the torso by an officer.
Grychtchenko spent 28 hours in the controversial Eastern Ave. detention facility after she said she was pulled to the ground by her backpack while fleeing police and punched in the face after screaming that she was not refusing arrest.
A report from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) described her injuries – including a chipped tooth, mild concussion and bruising around her eye and cheek – as “significant.”
Although the settlements mean the officers can not be found liable for the events, Grychtchenko said she is satisfied with the result.
“I feel that justice has been served,” Grychtchenko said. “Unfortunately, in the society that we live, money (does) talk. And them paying me off, it means that they’ve done something wrong.”
On Wednesday, police spokesman Mark Pugash said each case brought against the police is examined on its individual merits.
“Where it’s the appropriate thing to do and the right thing to do, we will settle,” he said. “Where it isn’t, we will contest.”
Toronto defence lawyer Davin Charney, who is representing several lawsuits related to the G20, said the decision to settle was based on what he said was a “fair” and “reasonable” amount of money offered by police.
“This settlement is a sense of closure so that people can move on and put this difficult episode behind them,” he said.
To the media, he reiterated the driving force behind pursuing these claims.
“At the G20, there were two blocs – a black bloc and the blue bloc,” he said referring to police. “The black bloc smashed windows, there was a riot. The blue bloc smashed people.”
The officer identified as kicking Kapetaneas, Const. Oliver Simpson, is currently facing a police tribunal for charges under the Police Services Act. He is alleged to have used unnecessary force in the arrest of Adam Nobody that same day in Queen’s Park.
Const. Matthew McCartney, is accused of using unnecessary force against Grychtchenko and is also facing Police Act charges.
With files from Laura Kane