Winnipeg police defend kicking suspect during arrest, release video
Posted June 12, 2020 12:15 pm.
Last Updated June 12, 2020 3:35 pm.
Winnipeg police are defending their actions and reaching out to Indigenous leaders after a video surfaced showing officers kneeing and kicking a man during an arrest.
A blurry, 74-second video posted online shows three officers trying to turn a man on the ground over to handcuff him.
One officer knees the man in the back, another officer walks up and kicks the man, a Taser is deployed and the man is soon is cuffs.
The Winnipeg Police Service has released a longer and clearer video taken from nearby security cameras that shows the man throwing what appears to be a handgun to the ground before police tackle him.
Police spokesperson Const. Jay Murray says police received reports of a man armed with a gun and metal pipe who was threatening people on a street, and officers responded appropriately.
Murray says the officers’ actions were aimed at handcuffing the suspect and getting his hands away from a knife in his waistband.
Flinn Nolan Dorian, 33, has been charged with several offences including possession of a weapon.
Murray says police Chief Danny Smyth has reached out to Indigenous leaders to discuss the arrest.