Testimony 11

I’ve watched undercover security officers beat the living shit out of teenage Black boys because these security guards did not believe these Black boys had money to pay for their bag of chips. I’ve had undercover security officers follow me, harass me, push me, yell and swear in my face because they thought I was stealing from the place I work at while on my day off. These undercover security goons kept coming back to these stores and working. I’ve had security guards search my things in a mall (west island) and empty my bag and take photos of the contents. Expected obedience through fear tactics will only incite further actions of resistance. I’ve attempted to ask Garda employees when I would be able to use the ATM they were at, they refused to speak to me and gave me dirty looks, and when I would wait to go in I would be questioned. This usually happens at 2am on a weeknight in a middle class, white, residential area. Same area as the undercovers. During covid I’ve been part of STM agents doing “random” checks and searches. Each group I was part of was comprised of “alternative looking” people – punks, BIPOC, visibly queer etc. None of the middle-class white folks get the same treatment. STM agents bully, provoke discomfort, and hostility from passengers by unflinchingly aggressively staring, putting on gloves pre-emptively, not wearing mask during height of covid or keeping social distance. I’ve watched cops, STM agents, security agents, make an exaggerated facial expression of disgust after being in close proximity to people experiencing homelessness, in addition to wiping their hands excessively – especially when there is not a need to touch someone else. The threat of power imbalances and its lived realities happen everywhere, all the time because cops are everywhere, all the time.