State Violence in Canada: Police Attacks Community Demanding Justice for Ejaz Choudry
Seven community members arrested for protesting the “reasonable” murder of Choudry, a 62 year old Pakistani-Canadian killed by police in June 2020.
On Saturday, April 10th, police in Canada’s Mississauga region violently attacked community members who had gathered to protest the police killing of Ejaz Ahmed Choudry, a Canadian-Pakistani, shot dead by police in his own home. What prompted this specific assembly was anger over the previous week’s SIU (Special Investigations Unit) verdict, which concluded that the officer who fired two bullets into Choudry's chest had “acted reasonably”.
Choudry, who was 62 and a father of four, suffered from schizophrenia. Last summer, during a health crisis in which he locked himself in his apartment, his daughter called a non-emergency helpline for medical assistance. Instead of medical attention, Choudry was met with three heavily armed police officers. A Tactical Unit eventually climbed up his apartment’s balcony and shot him several times, claiming that, since they saw a kitchen knife in his hand, Choudry was a threat to himself. The officers then swiftly left the scene, leaving behind a brutally murdered elderly man, beloved by his family and community, and an apartment sprayed with bullet holes and blood.
Choudry’s murder continued a trend of police violence against black, brown and Indigenous people in Canada and across North America — violence that has almost always gone unpunished, with officers left scot-free. We can think of Clive Mensah, Jamal Francique, D’Andre Campbell, Matt DiGiovanni and Jermaine Carby, all of whom had the same fate as Choudry. The police murdered them, and the officers responsible were eventually vindicated by the SIU.
The Malton’s People’s Movement (MPM), an organization formed in response to Choudry’s murder, has been organizing and leading actions since last summer to seek justice for all those who have lost their loved ones to police brutality.
Pamphlet by the MPM expressing the community’s outrage and demands.
Saturday’s events were part of one such action. Community members first assembled outside the building where Choudry lived and was ultimately murdered, before blocking a major intersection nearby.
Their demands were simple:
1. Identify the names of all killer cops
2. Release the Police Chief’s reports on all SIU verdicts
3. Secure permanent housing for families of those killed by the police
4. Drop charges against, and stop targeting, protestors
“History is being made today”, one of the movement’s leaders declared, “when people look back and see how we responded to the death of our black men, to the death of our brown uncles, to the death of our neighbours, they’re going to see that the people said ‘no to this shit!’”
Those who came out in support included organizers from the Canadian Sikh community, who had just last week held a protest in the area in solidarity with ongoing farmers’ protests in India. Though the police had tried to co-opt this solidarity protest — attempting to contrast the “good Brown protesters” with the “bad anti-police ones” — Sikh activists rejected this framing. As one Sikh activist put it, “[police violence] affects all racialized working class people, and as the police tries to divide us, it's important for us to stick together and demand justice.”
Community members occupied a major intersection in Mississauga, demanding justice for Ejaz Choudry and others killed by police.
Despite repeated attempts to convey their demands to the police chief, the organizers were unable to even reach him. With little recourse left, the community decided to march towards the cargo railway tracks, in an attempt to occupy the tracks and effectively block the economic arteries of the Canadian state. They wanted to send a message that the Malton community will not let the police cover up this incident, as they have done time and again.
Heavily-armed cops intimidating peaceful protestors.
At that point, over 80 police officers, including SWAT teams armed with machine guns, arrived to block the community from reaching the tracks. The police then started pushing and tackling community members. Some were held down by police, their faces kneed to the ground, and one community member was tased and dragged while the crowd watched and screamed. Seven community organizers ended up being arrested.
The cops, the majority of whom were white, mercilessly assaulted any community member who would get close to them. One organizer’s hijab was pulled off. Another, a Jamhoor member, was kneed in her groin by a police officer, who, when confronted, not only admitted to having committed the assault but also said they would do it again if need be.
Organisers manhandled and arrested on false charges. Image: Malton People’s Movement
Soon after, community members made their way to the 21 Division police station in Brampton, where the seven arrested organizers were being held. Community members demanded their release at the steps of a police station that was by now heavily manned and barricaded. In what seemed like a deliberate strategy, the majority of the police facing off against the community were non-white. Officers stood beneath the Canadian and Union Jack flag at half-mast, marking the death of Prince Phillip — an appalling reminder of Canada’s settler colonial legacy. While the police mourned the death of a racist imperialist, they blatantly and violently denied justice to those mourning Choudry’s.
In a show of force, solidarity and determination, the community chanted slogans, sang, and stood their ground for over four hours until the seven community organizers were released.
But the struggle, as always, continues. The murder of Choudry and its aftermath exposes, yet again, the anti-people nature of the Canadian police, as well as the sham that are SIU investigations. Instead of offering transparency and accountability, the police continue to spend their resources on murdering innocent racialized and working-class folks, and violently targeting those who protest such blatant misuse of power.