Police union demands apology from Bear Clan for video implicating officer in push
Posted September 25, 2022 12:29 pm.
The head of the Edmonton Police Union is asking for an apology from the leader of Bear Clan after an officer was incorrectly implicated in a controversial arrest video.
BACKGROUND: Edmonton police officer caught on video shoving woman to ground
Sgt. Michael Elliott is asking Judith Gale to apologize for posting a social media video that implicates an Edmonton police officer in an incident police say he was not involved in at all.
It all stems from an arrest caught on video. An Edmonton Police Service officer can be seen pushing a woman to the ground before arresting her.
Many have accused the officer of using excessive force.
EPS justified the use of force, saying the suspect had a knife, and the officer did what he determined was the safest for all concerned at the time.
The police force later released CCTV footage showing the woman had indeed been holding a knife when the incident occurred.
Gale first posted the 13-second video of the arrest on behalf of the person who filmed it. But police say the Bear Clan leader then spliced into the video the image of an Edmonton police officer who allegedly had nothing to do with the arrest.
That spliced video, originally posted to Gale’s TikTok, has since been deleted. Gale deleted her entire account as well.
But Elliott is still asking her to apologize, taking to Instagram Friday.
“Will Judith Gail of the Bear Clan apologize & remove her video post which has the push incident but then the video is spliced together with another video of an @edmontonpoliceservice member who was Never involved in the incident? It’s still available on her site,” Elliott wrote.
Gale meanwhile says she has watched the new CCTV footage and still is not sure the officer she stitched the video with was not the one who pushed the woman.
“I will not apologize for looking out for my brothers and sisters – and that’s that,” said Gale.
“Show us unequivocally a picture of him and then the picture of the gentleman that I stitched in the video and let’s see if they’re the same guy or not.”
Woman pushed says she was putting knife away
The woman in the arrest video, Rose-Aliyah Reeves, is also disputing Edmonton police’s official account of the interaction. She says she was putting away her knife when she was pushed by police.
She feels the officer should not have interfered, but also clarifies that she holds no grudges.
“I don’t think they should have gotten involved at all in the first place,” said Reeves. “It was just an argument. For me, I was triggered and I was in the middle of going after somebody who was a very dangerous threat not only to my family but to the children out here as well.
“I spar a lot with a lot of them out here so, I’ve actually sparred with him before too. So it was completely unexpected, but at the same time I don’t hold it against any of them.”
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Gale says this situation won’t stop her from sharing videos of cops and their interactions with the homeless community online in the future.
“It’s not going to stop me, no not at all,” she said. “Because these are our most vulnerable people and they should be taken care of by the people that are there to serve and protect. Not be thrown around.”
EPS responded to CityNews’ request for an interview Saturday by saying they stand by their earlier statement, that the tactic used was the least forceful option as determined by the officer on scene.
