G20 officer found guilty of assault

The Toronto Police Union says an officer found guilty of assaulting a G20 protester with a weapon three years ago is very distraught and crushed by the decision.

The police association president says their lawyers will be going over the verdict against Constable Babak Andalib-Goortani to see if there are any grounds for an appeal. The protester, Adam Nobody, clapped as the verdict was read. Outside court, he said he welcomed the verdict, but was honestly surprised the officer was found guilty: “He’s guilty, and I’m extremely grateful. I’m actually a little surprised but I’m extremely, extremely grateful. Hopefully, this helps vindicate the 11-hundred people that were arrested and forced upon that day. It’s just a great feeling, after three years to finally, justice is served. Obviously, they can’t get away with stuff like this, that can’t attack citizens.”

Mike McCormack of the Toronto Police Association had this comment: “We thought defense did an excellent job. We thought a great case was put forward by Harry Black and we do stand by the system. We’ve always stated that position. But in this case, we just feel that he came to the wrong conclusion. So, we’re gonna consider our options, we’re gonna look at what happened here. And we have councel already looking at this to see if there are grounds for appeal.”

The officer’s lawyer told the court his client saw four other officers struggling to restrain the man and that his actions were a “textbook example” of police training.