On the afternoon of June 7th, Michael Belfon, a good friend of mine and a man that I've known and respected since I was born, was assaulted by the local Victoria Police Department. The Vic PD were responding to a call stating that Michael was "at risk of becoming violent" during a mental health crisis. According to the official report, Michael "refused to talk to police" (which is contradictory to what actually happened) and apparently "confronted the police with weapons." Said weapons were never specified in the report. Michael refused to surrender, even after the police shot him with an ARWEN plastic bullet. 

The police used brutal and unnecessary force to subdue Michael-including some kind of gas (which was not specified in the police report), an armoured vehicle, but footage of the incident shows the police using "canisters similar to tear gas and and spraying gas from a bottle resembling pepper spray." These were sprayed into Michael's apartment on and off for 2 hours, so much that other tenants were also suffering from it. Several people from the upstairs units left the apartment, throwing up from the effects.

I could go on and on about this specific incident. But my point and question is, why did the Vic PD even handle Michael's situation in this way? Would a white man in this same situation be assaulted in this same way? This, and I'm not afraid to say it, is racism and assault-and an official abuse of power- and the police that instigated this and helped in this attack need to answer for their crimes. Victoria failed on this day in so many ways-not sending trained officers/paramedics/social workers to the site of the incident, and sending officers that obviously had no idea how to handle individuals having a psychotic episode. The tear gas and the bullet were unnecessarily brutal, and the gasses could have put children, pets, seniors, and residents with respiratory issues in grave danger. Quite frankly, this whole incident could have taken a turn for the worse and resulted in death.

Victoria's mayor and the Victoria Police need to give a proper answer to this specific crime and discuss the correct punishments for the Department's cruel doings-specifically firing the people responsible for the attack and helping Michael press charges against said officers.

If you see this as unjust, it would mean so much to my family and I if you sign this petition for Michael-and for every marginalized person in Victoria and beyond. Thank you.