The ex-Montreal police officer better known as Officer 728 is giving a completely different version of events from that of the man she is accused of illegally and violently arresting in the Plateau Mont-Royal in 2012, even partly blaming the student protests at the time for the alleged incident.
Stéfanie Trudeau testified in her defence this morning before the Quebec Police Ethics Commission.
Julian Menezes testified earlier this week that he was treated and spoken to abusively by Trudeau when he and his friends were trying to offer moral support to a cyclist the officers were ticketing.
The cyclist was sporting a red square, the symbol of the student protests at the time. Menezes testified Trudeau referred to it while giving the cyclist a ticket.
Menezes testified he was shoved to the ground and handcuffed; that Trudeau called him an "f***ing Indian" and a "skinny little bitch" who would be "f***ed in the ass in jail;" and that Trudeau and her partner took him on a so-called "starlight tour" - driving him a long distance away and dumping him off with a ticket for obstruction (that was eventually thrown out).
Testifying before ethics commission, Officer 728 Stéfanie Trudeau gave radically different version of events during arrest in 2012. #CJAD pic.twitter.com/BBxGDJdyHO
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 21, 2017
Trudeau denied all of that, only admitting that he did tell Menezes that a "skinny little guy like you is going to get f***ed in the ass in jail" in a bid to get him to identify himself. She testified that it was inappropriate but that it was a last resort because she was at the end of her patience with Menezes who she said was giving attitude and was constantly yelling in the police car, saying it was an unlawful arrest.
Trudeau testified Menezes was very drunk and smelled strongly of alcohol. Menezes had testified he had a few drinks at a wedding he was attending but was not drunk.
Trudeau testified she kept telling Menezes and his friends to move along and that it was none of their concern but that they refused and kept arguing with her. Trudeau also testified she repeatedly told Menezes that if he didn't hand over i.d., she'd arrest him.
Stéfanie Trudeau testified student protests created "social chaos, civil disobedience" & made police work difficult. #CJAD pic.twitter.com/MDxMaZXqhL
— Shuyee Lee (@sleeCJAD) July 21, 2017
Trudeau testified that this was all linked to the student protests at the time.
Trudeau, often sounding exasperated and frustrated during cross examination, testified that she believed Menezes and his friends were not simply interested in the welfare of the cyclist but wanted to meddle.
Trudeau testified the student protest movement caused "social chaos, civil disobedience" and made the job of policing difficult.
The commission is expected to render a ruling after taking the case under deliberation.