This week marked the first time Daniel Montsion has spoken publicly about Abdirahman Abdi’s death since he did not testify at his criminal trial in 2019.
The Ottawa police officer who was found not guilty of manslaughter in the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi is speaking publicly about the violent altercation for the first time.
Const. Daniel Montsion testified on Nov. 22, the fifth day of the coroner’s inquest into Abdi’s death. Abdi, a 38-year-old Somali Canadian, died in hospital after he was arrested on June 24, 2016, by Montsion and Const. David Weir, who testified earlier in the inquest.
The inquest is mandatory because Abdi died in police custody. It was delayed in part by Montsion’s criminal proceeding. He was charged with manslaughter, but was found not guilty after a judge-alone trial.
Weir was the first cop to interact with Abdi, arriving at a Bridgehead coffee shop in Westboro after multiple 911 calls reporting that Abdi was groping women. Weir attempted to arrest Abdi, but Abdi fled back to his apartment, where Weir caught up with him and Montsion joined.
There, Montsion said he punched Abdi approximately eight times over the course of a few minutes while trying to arrest him, and broke the man’s nose with his first punch. He was wearing Oakley SI Assault Combat Gloves with hard plastic coverings over the knuckles. Many officers wore them in the force to avoid injury or germs, he said, but he testified he didn’t receive any training or information about the gloves, and they are no longer in use among the Ottawa Police Service.
This week marked the first time Montsion has spoken publicly about Abdi’s death since he did not testify at his criminal trial. Unlike Weir, Montsion remains a sworn member of the Ottawa Police Service.
Evening Update
Video showed Montsion punching Abdi in the head repeatedly during the course of the arrest. Once Abdi was in handcuffs, he lost consciousness, and Montsion said he checked to make sure he was breathing and rolled him on his side into the recovery position.
“He was in my custody. It’s my duty to care for him,” Montsion said.
But, when paramedics arrived a few moments later, Abdi had no vital signs present, the inquest heard.
“How did you not notice he was not breathing?” inquest lawyer Maria Stevens asked.
“I periodically moved my attention back to him, to keep tabs on his medical condition,” Montsion replied. “Any time I actively paid attention to him, he was still breathing.”
Montsion said he was “very surprised” when paramedics said Abdi had no vital signs, as he had checked his breathing about 60 or 90 seconds prior to the paramedics’ arrival.
“So it’s a coincidence Abdi stopped breathing just before the paramedics arrived?” Steven asked.
“I suppose that’s accurate, yes,” Montsion responded. He said the scene became “chaotic,” with bystanders yelling and taking videos of the officers and the unconscious man.
Rick Frank, a lawyer for the Black Action Defence Committee, asked if more could have been done to take stock of Abdi’s vital signs, but Montsion said he checked him regularly.
Bystanders had said they were yelling to the officers that Abdi had mental-health issues, but both Weir and Montsion said they didn’t hear them.
The inquest has a broad scope, with Weir and Montsion fielding questions about their training in the areas of mental-health de-escalation, use of force, and anti-bias training. The inquest jury is tasked with determining Abdi’s cause of death and can also make recommendations to prevent deaths in similar situations.
The inquest is to continue next week, with dozens more witnesses still expected to testify.
Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed.
