Police officer acquitted in 2016 death of Ottawa man testifies at coroner’s inquest

By The Canadian Press on November 22, 2024.

People pass a police officer in their car as they head down Elgin Street during a rally after an Ottawa police officer was found not guilty of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon in connection with the death of Abdirahman Abdi in Ottawa in 2016 on October 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA – A police officer who was found not guilty of manslaughter in the 2016 death of an Ottawa man tells a coroner’s inquest that his goal was to “entertain” Abdirahman Abdi with punches during the arrest.

Ottawa Police Const. Daniel Montsion is among those who gave evidence at the inquest into Abdi’s death after his violent arrest.

The 38-year-old died in July 2016 after police responded to a 911 call reporting a man groping women outside a coffee shop in Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighborhood.

The inquest heard that Abdi appeared to be in a mental health crisis at the time.

Montsion was charged in the case with manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon and was found not guilty in 2020.

He told the coroner’s inquest today that deciding whether to use force during an arrest did not take into account a person’s mental health and that he was trying to control Abdi before arresting him.

Tina Hill, a lawyer for Abdi’s family, showed clips of a video of the arrest and asked Montsion how many punches she threw at the Somali-Canadian man.

“You punch him in the head with the handcuffs in your right hand,” she said.

Montsion contested this, saying he was trying to control Abdi’s left hand.

“My goal was to distract him with those shots,” he said.

The police officer also said he was sorry for the loss of Abdi’s family.

The inquest heard that Montsion was wearing special gloves designed to prevent injuries during the arrest, which had a plastic coating on the fingers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 22, 2024.

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