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RACIAL PROFILING AT BAD NEWS BROWN TRIBUTE CONCERT


Montreal, May 18, 2011---A young Black man who was stopped and fined for jaywalking after attending the tribute concert for the late Bad News Brown has filed a racial profiling complaint against the Montreal Police Service and asked for an investigation into the police intervention at the event.

Marcus Gordon, 27, an English-speaking video and musical production manager, came out of the Metropolis around midnight on Monday, May 9 with his White fiancée and saw a dozen police officers and several police cars in front of the theater. Some officers wore black gloves. He and his fiancée casually walked to their car, which was parked across the nearly closed Saint-Catherine Street, and were quickly accosted by three police officers. One officer told them that they had jaywalked and issued a $37.00 fine to each. Meanwhile, other young white men who also crossed the almost deserted street that night, in front of the police, were not stopped.

Mr. Gordon filmed the entire incident on video, which can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knV-_5AEst8

Bad News Brown was a popular Black rap artist who was murdered last February in Montreal. His death remains unsolved. Many Black concertgoers and organizers were dismayed by the intimidating presence of numerous police officers and cars in front of the Metropolis that night, despite the fact that it was a peaceful event held to commemorate the late artist’s life and works. Many Black male participants were also apparently stopped and fined for minor offenses such as jaywalking, which was a way for the police to identify them.

“I know that it is a simple pretext to ID Black guys because the police thinks all Black fans of Bad News Brown are involved in gangs,” said Mr. Gordon, whose dreadlocks make him a regular target for Driving While Black (racial profiling) stops.

“This act of racial profiling is not only an illegal attack on Black men’s civil rights, but also an affront to the memories and family of Bad News Brown, ” added Mr. Gordon. “Coming two days before the release of the human rights commission’s major report on racial profiling, this police operation can exacerbate tensions between the police and the Black community of Montreal.”