Professor files ethics complaint against Quebec City police for Chuck Norris photo during G7 Summit
A photo of action star Chuck Norris in a police vehicle window has pushed a university professor to file a complaint to the Police Ethics Commissioner about police behaviour during the G7 Summit last June.
Francis Dupuis-Déri said he saw the photo of Norris — toting a gun in each hand — on the passenger side window of a riot police van during the weekend of the summit.
"I thought that was in really bad taste and that it was a form of intimidation and threat from the police toward the public and the protesters," said Dupuis-Déri. He teaches political science and police profiling at the Université du Québec à Montreal and was protesting the summit.
Dupuis-Déri said the photo "outraged" him, and that it heightened tensions at the protest.
In his complaint, Dupuis-Déri stated that he found it problematic that a photo of an actor known for his fighting was being showcased by riot police.
He said the specific photo is from a poster of the movie Invasion U.S.A., in which Norris' character is pitted against communists from Cuba during the Cold War. Dupuis-Déri said he believes the police officers during the G7 saw themselves in Norris' role.
Quebec City police would not comment on the complaint.
Amnesty International and the Quebec nonprofit, Ligue des droits et libertés, also denounced police behaviour during the G7 Summit for being excessive and intimidating.
Because the human rights groups filed their report in September, Dupuis-Déri said he did not think he needed to broaden his complaint, but instead focused on the Chuck Norris photo.
"My complaint is really about this specific case and these specific police officers who were in the minivan," Dupuis-Déri said.
He said he believes anyone in his situation would make the same choice, and that it is the role of citizens to call out unethical police behaviour.
