Death of Abdirahman Abdi

Death of Abdirahman Abdi
Time c. 9:30 a.m. (EDT)
Date July 24, 2016 (2016-07-24)
Location Fairmont Avenue and Wellington Street West, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Outcome Under investigation
Deaths Abdirahman Abdi

The death of Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian, occurred on July 24, 2016, in the neighbourhood of Hintonburg in the Kitchissippi Ward[1] of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Abdi died in a hospital after an incident with the Ottawa Police Service.

Background

According to Abdirahman Abdi's 27-year-old[2] younger brother Abdiaziz Abdi, he was 37 years old when he died, and came to Canada in 2009,[3] working in a car wash.[2] He lived on 55[4] Hilda Street.[5]

Two Ottawa Police Service officers were involved in the arrest.[6]

Arrest and death

Police were called to the Hintonburg Bridgehead coffee shop on the corner of Fairmont Avenue and Wellington Street West over allegations that Abdi was groping women there.[7] J.M. Duval, a witness who was present at the coffee shop since 9:15am, says he saw a commotion and that the front doors were locked as a group outside restrained Mr. Abdi. Duval says it looked like Abdi was trying to either flee or get back into the shop. Duval says he asked the allegedly assaulted woman (who had been taken to the back of the shop) in French what had happened and he says she said (translated) "He groped me." repeatedly.[8] Tracey Clark, the owner of Bridgehead who was not present during the incident, gave a statement August 5 after speaking with staff and customers, describing Abdi as having harassing and assaulting multiple people in the shop.[9] Clark mentioned this was not the first incident with him, and that previously he would stare at customers and get too close to them. Clark said that they had previously intervened by asking Abdi if he was aware of what he was doing and if he could stop.[9]

After the Bridgehead confrontation there at 9:30am, police pursued him 250[10] metres (three blocks[9]) to his apartment.[10] Dispatchers sent an ambulance for Abdirahman at 9:52am, and a paramedic reported "vital signs absent" at 9:59am. 12:48pm the SIU tweeted they were sent to investigate.[10]

Later he was taken to the Ottawa Civic Hospital[11] portion of the The Ottawa Hospital but a doctor told the family he was dead 45 minutes prior to arrival.[2] This was announced to the public 3:17pm on Monday July 25.[10]

Aftermath

The Abdi family retained lawyer Lawrence Greenspon two days after his death on Wednesday July 27.[12]

His funeral was held Friday July 29 at the Ottawa (Main) Mosque, with 800 inside[13] and more outside, total attendance was estimated by Naeem Malik (the president of the Ottawa Muslim Association) at over 2000 people.[14] The funeral was led by Imam Mohamed Hachimi [15] and a family statement was read by Imam Sikander Hashmi of the Kanata Muslim Association.[13] Mayor James Alexander Watson spoke at the funeral.[10]

A lack of trust for the SIU has been conveyed in the media in relation to this case.[16] The Canadian Somali Mothers' Association called for two officers to be removed and the Canadian Council of Muslim Women requested a critical look at the case.[17]

In late August, Black Lives Matter's Toronto chapter protested the Special Investigations Unit in Mississauga in response to his death.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Today's police incident on Hilda". 24 July 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Harford, Evelyn; Yogaretnam, Shaamini (26 July 2016). "Ottawa man Abdirahman Abdi dies after confrontation with police". Ottawa Citizen. His brother, Abdiaziz Abdi, 27, said Abdi came to Canada from Somalia in 2009 and worked hard at a downtown car wash.
  3. ↑ "How a black man died after encounter with Ottawa police: What we know so far". The Globe and Mail. 3 August 2016. Abdirahman Abdi was a 37-year-old immigrant from Somalia. His brother, Abdiaziz, told the Ottawa Citizen he came to Canada in 2009.
  4. ↑ Lafaro, Joe (25 July 2015). "Abdirahman Abdi, man critically injured in police altercation, has died: SIU". Metro News. Paramedics treat a man outside 55 Hilda St. Sunday morning, after he was arrested by police.
  5. ↑ Harford, Evelyn (24 August 2016). "Protesters for Abdirahman Abdi rally on doorstep of the Ottawa police headquarters". Ottawa Citizen. (Abdi’s aunt, Khadra) said that Abdi’s mother has not been able to sleep since watching her son die on the sidewalk in front of his Hilda Street apartment building.
  6. ↑ "2 officers under investigation in death of Ottawa man identified". CBC. July 26, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  7. ↑ Stone, Laura (29 July 2016). "Witnesses recount Abdirahman Abdi's 'gruesome' encounter with Ottawa police before his death". Globe and Mail. last Sunday morning police were called to a coffee shop to investigate a disturbance, which allegedly involved Mr. Abdi groping women (updated July 30)
  8. ↑ Yogaretnam, Shaamini (28 July 2016). "'He groped me': Witness describes coffee shop confrontation before Abdi arrest".
  9. 1 2 3 "Abdirahman Abdi worried Bridgehead customers on previous occasions before fatal arrest, owner says". CBC News. 5 August 2016. Clark wasn't at the Bridgehead shop on the corner of Wellington Street West and Fairmont Avenue on the Sunday morning when the incident began, but said she has spoken with staff and customers who were there. She would not go into great detail about what happened, in part due to ongoing investigations, describing Abdi's actions only as an "assault" and "harassment" of more than one person inside. "It was a rapidly escalating situation where Mr. Abdi did harass a customer, and more than one, and several customers [sought] to move him out of the store to restrain him until police could arrive," Clark said.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Porter, Kate (28 July 2016). "TIMELINE Abdirahman Abdi's fatal encounter with Ottawa Police". Police pursue 37-year-old Abdirahman Abdi on foot for some 250 metres, and arrest him outside his apartment
  11. ↑ "SIU Started an Investigation into Arrest of an Ottawa Man, Appealing for Witnesses Case Number: 16-OCD-193". 24 July 2016. He was transported to Ottawa Civic Hospital.
  12. ↑ Harford, Evelyn (2 August 2016). "Abdirahman Abdi's family retains lawyer Lawrence Greenspon". Ottawa Citizen.
  13. 1 2 "Hundreds attend Abdirahman Abdi funeral, family seeks 'open, transparent' investigation". 29 July 2016. Friday’s funeral drew more than 800 mourners to the Ottawa Mosque on Northwestern Avenue, with many more spilling out the front steps and onto the lawn outside.
  14. ↑ "Thousands mourn at funeral for Abdirahman Abdi". CTV News. 29 July 2016. The funeral for the Ottawa man who died following a confrontation with police took place at the Ottawa Main Mosque Friday .. The president of the Ottawa Muslim Association (OMA) estimated more than 2000 people attended the funeral.
  15. ↑ Ali, Nimao (27 July 2016). "Supporting the Family of Abdirahman Abdi".
  16. ↑ Domise, Andray (28 July 2016). "Justice for Black Canadians (not) / Why we can't trust SIU to probe death of Abdirahman Abdi". Maclean's. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016.
  17. ↑ Provencher, Norman (30 July 2016). "Abdi death: Somali moms want cops taken off duty pending SIU probe". Ottawa Sun.
  18. ↑ "Black Lives Matter protesters hit SIU headquarters". Toronto Star. 24 August 2016.

See also

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