The province’s official police watchdog agency is investigating a Vancouver Police Department officer who shoved a North Vancouver woman to the ground during a pipeline protest.
The incident happened on May 22 outside the Opus Hotel while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was inside for a Liberal party fundraiser.
CTV News cameras captured the incident and reporters later identified the woman as Susan Stout, of North Vancouver.
“According to the video, during the protest a woman approaches a male standing next to a uniformed Vancouver police officer. The woman in the video steps forward and appears to make contact with one of the men, the woman is pushed back and falls to the ground,” stated a release from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner, issued on Thursday.
The investigation will determine whether the officer’s actions amount to misconduct under the Police Act.
“As the video was posted on social media and reported in the news, the Police Complaint Commissioner has determined that it is in the public interest, pursuant to Sec. 95 of the Police Act, to disclose that an investigation has been ordered into this incident,” the release stated.
In an email, Stout said she had no idea the incident was going to be investigated. In the moments leading up to the shove, Stout said she was keeping an eye on another protester who had been pinned down by security, well after Trudeau had left.
“I was trying to get a picture of the person on the ground and was telling security to leave him alone, when they shoved me into the CTV camera - the cameraman must have a heck of a black eye,” she said
