http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/06/27/adam-nobody-and-the-video-clip-that-changed-everything.html
A short video clip has defined the past five years of Adam Nobody’s life.
The shaky footage
of the stage hand being taken down during a G20 protest by a group of
police officers, one of whom appears to strike Nobody with a baton
several times as he lies on the ground, has been central to the
high-profile campaign for justice he has been waging ever since.
“Other people who were affected are like, ‘How
come you got all the media attention?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. Because
there was video of it,’” says Nobody, now 32. “I’m grateful for it. I’d
be lost without it.”
One of the most enduring scenes of the G20,
Nobody’s violent arrest became a symbol of what went wrong that weekend,
and made him a household name.
The effect on Nobody, who suffered a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone, was both physical and emotional.
“I can’t look at a cop the same way,” he says. “My heart starts racing.”
If not for further video footage of the
incident, there might never have been a criminal case against Const.
Babak Andalib-Goortani, the sole police officer to be convicted of using
excessive force while arresting a protester during the G20.
The Special Investigations Unit initially
concluded that it was impossible to identify the baton-wielding officer,
but reopened the case after the Star provided a second video, which
showed the sequence of events.
Andalib-Goortani was found guilty of assault
with a weapon in 2013 and was sentenced to 45 days in jail, pending
appeal. A Superior Court judge recently upheld the verdict, but reduced the sentence to a year of probation and 75 hours of community service.
In May, a disciplinary tribunal dismissed
charges under the Police Services Act against four other officers
accused in the incident. The tribunal is scheduled to hear
Andalib-Goortani’s case later this year.
Nobody, who is also pursuing a civil case
against the officers involved as well as the Police Services Board,
called the verdict in the tribunal hearing “absolutely repulsive.”
“It made me sick to my stomach when I read it,” he says.
But he’s not giving up.
“I’m just going to court and fighting my battle, and not letting them get away with it,” he says.
With files from Alyshah Hasham
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