Braidwood Inquiry , So Far Three Different Stories .

By Ben Meisner

It is a case of selected memory. Constable Kwesi Millington, the officer who delivered 5 tazer jolts  into Robert Dziekanski after (according to the Constable) he feared for the safety of himself and three other police officers when the Polish immigrant picked up a stapler and,”I was afraid he was going to use it against us”. The fact that the stapler was in an open position only added to the fear says Constable Millington.

Now Constable Millington has definitely shown a selective memory. He has had no trouble on the stand remembering that Dziekanski was holding a stapler in a threatening manner (it was open at and just above waist high) but he couldn’t remember that he tazered Dziekanski.

According to his testimony at the Braidwood Inquiry, he also could remember that he heard the crackling sounds of the tazer, meaning that it was not making proper contract with Dziekanski's body, but he couldn’t remember that he tazered the guy 5 times.

He suggested to the hearing and then changed his testimony on the stand that his original two statements to police in fact were not correct. That statement by the way came after the four officers had got together and talked about what took place hours after the incident , again clearly a breach of conduct.

In that statement he says Dziekanski was coming towards the officer in a threatening manner when he first fired the tazer. The tape of the event shows quite clearly that he in fact was turned and walking away from the officers when they gave him the first jolt.

Then Millington says he had to hit Dziekanski again because "he didn’t go down and was coming towards the officer", wrong again. The video quite clearly shows that the man went down and down hard on the first jolt, the rest of the tazer jolts (and 26 seconds worth) were just after thoughts. Well said the officer he was rolling around and not being compliant. Of course he was rolling around; he had just been hit by a jolt of lightning that had knocked him off his feet!

In the end watching the re play of events brings not only a sickening feeling to one’s self, but also a sense of embarrassment of being a Canadian.

We are supposed to have the most proficient police force in the world.

The RCMP uniform was known the world over as a symbol of our kind and carrying personality. Oh have we changed that image in a few short months.

The problem however is that instead of seeing what took place as an act of violence towards another human being; we have been trying our best to sweep it under the carpet, while the world watches in wonderment.

I’m Meisner and that’s one man’s opinion.

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