Abdi trial verdict shows benefit of the doubt is the ultimate white privilege
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, Justice Robert Kelly cleared Ottawa Police Service Constable Daniel Montsion of all charges in the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi.
Canada’s justice system is supposedly built on the principle of people being innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is on the prosecution to demonstrate that the accused did their crimes, “beyond a reasonable doubt”. Justice Kelly said that, regarding the charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assaulted with a weapon against Montsion, the Crown had failed to prove that.
If Abdi had been arrested and gone to trial he would have had the same right to the presumption of innocence. Anthony Aust, who fell to his death when Ottawa Police raided his home Oct. 7, would have too, if he had been arrested. But they didn’t get the chance.
They didn’t get the chance because such force was used to apprehend them that they ended up dead. Montsion was cleared of any wrongdoing by Justice Kelly and we fully expect the Special Investigations Unit will do the same for the many officers who raided Aust’s place.
White people, especially white cops, get the benefit of the doubt that Black people often don’t. Our kids don’t get it when they get suspended or expelled from school, sometimes for simply questioning unjust behaviour. Black drivers don’t get it when they get disproportionately pulled over, sometime for offences they haven’t even committed, like the Ottawa man recently stopped by an Ottawa police officer for expired plates – that weren’t expired. And Black people with mental health issues, like Abdirahman Abdi, don’t get it when they are treated like violent threats instead of what they are: people in need of compassionate help.
All these actions are based on the assumption by white people that Black people aren’t innocent until proven guilty, but guilty until proven innocent – or killed.
But back to Montsion…
He’s now free and, no doubt, would certainly have us think he believes deeply in the concept that led to his freedom: the presumption of innocence. If that’s the case, we must assume two things: he presumed Abdi was innocent and he felt he had to punch him several times in the head with metal gloves for Abdi’s safety and that of his fellow officers. Given the verdict, we can assume he’ll do the same thing next time – and that his fellow officers will feel enabled to do the same. And they expect us to simply wait for the next Black person to be beaten to death…
On the day of the verdict, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson issued a statement in which he said, “I also want to take this opportunity to re-iterate my full confidence in our justice system. We are privileged in Canada to have a justice system that strives to render verdicts based on the facts and evidence before the courts – a system that upholds the rule of law.”
What the system strives to do is irrelevant. What it actually does is disproportionately penalize, imprison and kill Black people. It does uphold rule of law. The only problem is that the rules were designed to oppress Black people – and still do so with fatal efficiency.
Source: The “True” North
Robin Browne is an African-Canadian communications professional and father of two boys. He lives in Ottawa.