Alberta’s police watchdog has cleared four Calgary police officers of any wrongdoing in a 2023 arrest that left a 13-year-old boy with injuries that were treated in hospital. In November 2023, a demonstration was held downtown in support of the people of Gaza. A report by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) says body-worn police cameras show the boy spitting at an officer’s leg. The boy was then brought to the ground, pinned and handcuffed, as shown on officers’ cameras and social media video. At the time, the boy’s family told CTV News they took him to the Alberta Children’s Hospital suffering from a concussion, vomiting and other medical issues. Police told the boy he was under arrest for assault, but charges were never filed. The family emigrated to Canada from Gaza in 2020, where the boy’s father worked as a senior police captain. In 2023, when asked by CTV News what could be done to make the family feel better, the boy’s father was clear. “I need the police officer who grab him, who hit him, who put him on the ground - the three (officers). Not one. Three. Charge them. All of the three,” he said. ASIRT concluded that the officers’ use of force was reasonable under the circumstances. “Each of the subject officers were required or authorized by law to act on this date and acted on reasonable grounds,” the report concluded. With files by CTV’s Bill Macfarlane and Shaun Frenette
