[CBC News] A Vancouver police officer accused of assaulting a cyclist during an arrest that was videotaped and posted on Facebook, pleaded not guilty in court today.
The incident happened in March 2013 in downtown Vancouver, while Const. Ismail Bhabha was handcuffing cyclist Andishae Akhavan Kharazi after pulling him over for riding without a helmet and running a red light.
The incident provoked outrage online when a video taken by Kharazi’s friend, Mike Schwarz, was posted on Facebook. It appears to show Bhabha punching Kharazi in the face.
At Bhabha’s trial on Wednesday morning, Kharazi testified he did not recall running any lights on his bike and said he normally stops for lights.
He also testified he never resisted arrest or raised his voice, and only moved his arms involuntarily when the officer twisted his arms behind his back while attempting to handcuff him.
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First off, is there a bigger lie in the entire world than the old “I don’t recall” line? Reel it in there Ollie North, if you “don’t recall” whether you ran a red light on your bike, it doesn’t exactly take a genius to figure out that you probably did.
Second off, the video comes from the bicyclist’s friend and cuts in about two seconds before the cop punches the dude in the face. Yeah dude, no need to include the run up to that. You really think I’m going to believe that he just punched him in the face for no reason? And you know what, it’s not even no reason. When you’re getting handcuffed and you try to jerk your arm away, you’re gonna get popped. If anything I think the cop used a surprising amount of restraint. He barely touched him. It’s not like he hauled back and decked him with an uppercut. He gave him a love tap. A little “hey, I’m still here” reminder. Downright polite by police standards.
But most importantly (and the main reason I 100% believe the bicyclist deserved it), how in the name of FUCK is it even POSSIBLE to get a Canadian mad enough to punch you in the face? I mean I’d love to see the rest of the confrontation from beginning to end, because you KNOW this bicyclist had to be talking some unbelievable shit. Usually I’d expect a Canadian cop to straight up apologize for arresting you, but you got this guy to haul off and punch you right in the grill. I figure either this guy was just flagrantly douching it up in front of the cop and got what he deserved, or he insulted the cop’s hockey team. In either case, you gotta know what’s coming. No sympathy. #TeamCop
I HATE BICYCLISTS 