Montreal police officers are facing public outrage after erroneously detaining a Black man they believed stole a car that turned out to be his. The man is now saying how “humiliated” he felt while in law enforcement’s custody, believing he was discriminated against because of the color of his skin.
On Thursday, Nov. 3, officers approached him and accused him of stealing a car that was legally registered to him. After erroneously handcuffing the man, the cops realized they did not have the key to the shackles.
Footage of Brice Dossa being arrested recently went viral on social media, further embarrassing the young man who wants the world to know he is “not a criminal,” the CBC reported.
Dossa was walking to his car in a Montreal parking lot when the plainclothes officer approached and apprehended him. The officers said they thought the car was stolen, not in response to a missing vehicle, but because they saw marks around the keyhole on its door.
Sources who reviewed the man’s car confirmed it is a new vehicle and has no marks on it.
In an interview with CTV News, Dossa shared, “I saw a gentleman come from behind, pulling my right hand at the back. [I said], ‘What’s going on here?’ The police did not introduce themselves and say ‘I’m police, I’m here for this and that. Give me the papers of the vehicle.’ They didn’t ask anything. They just harassed me, aggressively, handcuffed me, without even telling me what is happening.”
In a separate interview, Dossa said, “I could be attacked anywhere for no reason. I’m not a criminal. I feel traumatized. I feel I’ve been humiliated and this is discrimination… Everyone I spoke to said, ‘If you were white, this could have been [handled] differently. They would not have done that to you.’ “
