SUPERIOR COURT TO HEAR APPEAL BY CHÂTEAUGUAY BLACK DRIVER WHO WAS PEPPER SPRAYED IN A DRIVING WHILE BLACK CASE

Montréal, July 6, 2018 — A Châteauguay Anglophone Black man, John Chilcott, who was tailed, stopped, pepper sprayed by a police officer and then arrested while driving his daughters to school in December 2015, will appear in court this coming Monday to present his appeal.

The case made headlines back in 2015 with the video of his young daughters being hit with by the pepper spray. Chilcott received three tickets for driving-related offenses worth more than $1,000. He fought the tickets and lost in a Châteauguay Municipal Court decision in May 2017. He appealed the decision to the Quebec Superior Court.

The appeal asserts that among other things, the trial judge made an error in interpreting evidence of racial profiling by supporting the officer’s admission that he was worried Chilcott might have been a sexual predator when he saw him talking to a young white girl from his car in the middle of the road. However, when the officer saw the two young Black girls later enter Chilcott’s vehicle in the parking lot, he stated that he no longer believed Chilcott was a sexual predator and did not seem concerned for the Black children’s safety.

Additionally, the judge seems to have trivialized the level of force used by the police officer and the injuries sustained by Chilcott’s daughters as a result of the pepper spray. The appeal also highlights numerous contradictions in the officer’s sworn testimony that impact his credibility in this case, which the trial judge overlooked.

In short, the appeal raises additional questions regarding judicial interpretation of racial profiling in which implicit racial bias, the link between race and excessive police force, and the treatment of Black children by the police are key elements.

The hearing for the appeal will take place on Monday, July 9, 2018, 9:30 AM, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Courthouse, 74, rue Académie, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.

Chilcott will be accompanied by CRARR lawyer, Aymar Missakila, and other representatives. His civil rights complaint and his wife’s, both filed against the officer and the City of Châteauguay, are still before the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission, while his wife's complaint of police misconduct, is still before the Police Ethics Commissioner.