Running from the police is not a crime punishable by death in Canada. Yet this is the sentence 18-year-old Junior Alexander Manon received on the evening of May 5, 2010 when he ran from the police near York University in Toronto. And by looks of what became of the young Dominican teenager, it’s no surprise that youth like him run when confronted by Toronto police.
Around 6:30pm, Manon jumped out of a car and fled police after a random pull-over on Founders Road and Steeles. Police claim that Manon spontaneously collapsed and died of a heart attack while trying to run from them, despite witness testimonies and a pool of blood to suggest otherwise.
A witness on the scene and another passenger of the vehicle reported that: “They beat him up, he was on the floor, he wasn’t resisting. Two officers on him, punching him in the face, one kicking him in the ribs… And then five more come and jump on him… He’s not that big for seven boy’dem [cops] to be on him like that.”
Choked by her own tears, Junior’s sister Amanda Manon reported to Global News that “there was blood all over the place – he was struggling. It was a painful death, a painful death.”
The emergency call placed by the police indicated that “a man without vital signs was in need of assistance”, reported Global. Manon was later taken to York-Finch hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The case is now being handled by the Special Investigations Unit – the supposedly “civilian agency” that oversees the police, but in actuality is heavily staffed by ex-cops, and has a nearly flawless record of exonerating officers who have killed persons in their custody. Not a single officer has ever been convicted of criminal charges for the killing of persons of their custody, despite handling more than 30 such cases since its inception.
With the SIU involved, conveniently the police are not required make a public comment on Manon’s death.
The family reported that Manon’s neck was in a brace, and that his face had exhibited signs of serious beating.
Toronto’s corporate-monopoly media has been widely circulating the story that Manon dropped dead of a heart attack, whitewashing and overshadowing the details provided by direct witnesses (see CityNews and Global Toronto). Perhaps worst of all was the Toronto Star's reporting, which said today that "Paramedics arrived at the scene to find the man with no visible injuries...". In what should constitute criminal complicity, the mainstream media is de facto providing cover for the cops until the public forgets this outrageous but not so surprising act of police terror.
There's no doubt that the Jane-Finch community, where Junior was from and was widely known, will mobilize against this outrageous killing of one of their youth.