About 30 people have gathered in downtown Barrie today, to protest the violent arrest of a 20-year-old skateboarder that was caught on video and widely shared on social media.
The small group of people were all masked and maintained their distance from each other, demanding that the officer involved be held accountable.
Photographer: Mike Roy
Barrie police say 20-year-old Skyler Kent was arrested last Thursday for causing a disturbance and assault with attempt to resist arrest.
Witnesses said he was originally ticketed for going through a red light on his skateboard at the Five Points.
On the video, you can see the young man on the ground with an officer on top of him, before he is hit in the head with a taser and flipped over onto the pavement, hitting his head.
Teena Warrin and her family were among those who attended the protest and said, “We have two young boys and we saw the video and it physically made me sick, it brought tears to my eyes it’s just not okay. We’ve never been involved with any type of support for defunding the Police, but this officer needs to go.”
Chief Kimberley Greenwood says she has asked the OPP to conduct the investigation into the incident.
Anyone who was present at the time of the occurrence is asked to contact the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.
