Two Montrealers are exploring legal options over an incident in a Laval-des-Rapides condo garage building that they believe was fueled by racism.
Jamol Ross and a friend were washing a car in the garage; one of them owned a unit of the building. They went outside for a while; upon returning, they were confronted by two men and a woman who said they were part of the condo board.
Ross and his friend allege that one of the three was waving a metal pipe. One part of the incident captured on a video shows the men demanding Ross and his friend to speak French while the other man called the police.
Ross began to record the incident in case anything happened; proof will be available.
“As soon as the guy came into the garage, when we’re at the car, he said he’s calling the police. I began to record, if something happens, I want to have my proof, I know how the system is.”
Fo Niemi, the executive director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, says that the incident is an example of how hostile white people target innocent people of color.
“Basically, two Black men doing nothing, doing their own thing, going about their regular thing and being faced with people who suspect them of something illegal, people who come to them with unjustified hostility.”
The condo board denounced knowing the men and women captured on the video. However, they insisted that the two friends can go to the police if they believe they were racially profiled. The two friends want the police to investigate the incident and have the three charged.
