Criminal charges have been approved against a Black SFU alumnus who was pepper-sprayed and Tasered by police during a controversial arrest at the university’s Burnaby Mountain campus last Friday.
A Burnaby RCMP officer had responded to a call at around 9 p.m. from SFU security about a man who was refusing to leave a campus cafeteria, according to police.
Police said security officials had told them a student had made a complaint about the man, who was on campus without a mask and contrary to SFU’s pandemic safety rules, which only allow current students on campus.
When the officer arrived, police said he attempted to deescalate the situation and repeatedly asked the man – who has since been identified as SFU alumnus and former Simon Fraser Student Society vice-president Babakayode (Kayode) Fatoba – to leave.
Police said Fatoba refused to comply, and the officer told him he was under arrest and attempted to take him into custody.
A video of the incident posted online shows Fatoba struggling with the officer and being pepper-sprayed in the face.
A voice can be heard in the background yelling, “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
But, during the course of the struggle, police said Fatoba put the officer into a “chokehold.”
“Fearing for his safety, the officer deployed a conducted energy weapon (CEW). Only with use of both police intervention tools was the officer able to take the man into custody safely,” stated the release.
RCMP took the Fatoba to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained from the Taser.
He was held by medical staff for psychiatric evaluation, according to police.
This week, 30-year-old Fatoba was charged for causing a disturbance, obstructing an officer and assaulting an officer.
The incident has unleashed a flood of criticism from people accusing SFU security and the RCMP of racial profiling.
In a statement Monday, the Simon Fraser Student Society said it “wholeheartedly condemns” the arrest.
According to the statement, SFU security had followed Fatoba from the university’s West Mall into the dining hall and asked him to leave because of pandemic guidelines the student society said are unclear.
“Currently, students are not regularly being asked about their enrolment status to access SFU campus spaces,” the statement said. “We have reason to believe that this was a targeted event on an individual whom campus security was familiar with.”
Instead of deescalating the situation, the student society said SFU security chose to call police.
“This arrest cannot be separated from the reality of heightened police brutality, systemic racism, and racial profiling faced by Black community members, and the unequal enforcement of unclear campus policies,” said the statement.
SFU chief safety officer Mark Lalonde said he couldn’t comment on the incident, including why Fatoba was followed in the first place, because of privacy reasons.
“Campus Public Safety (CPS) officers always take a peaceful approach to resolve situations,” Lalonde said in a statement.
The student society, however, said that statement has only left Black SFU students feeling “unsafe, unheard, and gaslit.”
SFU president Joy Johnson has promised an external review of the situation.
“We will review this event to learn what we can improve,” she said in a statement Sunday.
But Johnson’s response, too, was blasted in a letter to the SFU president signed by numerous Black SFU faculty, staff and students, and allies.
“This was not a learning opportunity,” stated the letter published in the Georgia Straight. “This was an act of discrimination and violence against a Black man on SFU campus.”
The letter demanded a “comprehensive public inquiry into the incident and events precipitating it.”
The African Students’ Association – a club Fatoba founded when he was an SFU student, according to a 2015 Maclean’s magazine article – released a statement saying its work to address anti-Blackness on campus has gotten little support from the university, and that needs to change.
“SFU’s interactions with Black student groups such as ASA (African Students’ Association) and SOCA (Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry) have been limited to unending meetings with no meaningful actions or followup to our recommendations and demands,” said the statement.
The group called on SFU to immediately re-evaluate its relationship with police.
At the Burnaby RCMP detachment, meanwhile, the report on the use of force by the officer involved – along with witness testimony and video evidence – will be reviewed by his supervisor, according to the RCMP.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Fatoba with costs associated with his arrest and charges.
As of Friday morning, it had raised more than $7,700.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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