The Province’s Special Investigations Unit will not be continuing an investigation into a local woman who was injured during the Freedom Convoy demonstrations in downtown Ottawa in February.
The SIU began an investigation after the woman, identified as 49-year-old Candice Sero of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, was involved in an interaction with a Toronto Police Service officer on horseback.
Director Joseph Martino says the investigation is being terminated because the woman’s injury was not serious enough under the SIU’s mandate.
The decision comes following an interview with the woman, and a review of police drone and body-worn camera footage, as well as her medical records.
Initial reports suggested Sero sustained serious injuries.
She did attend hospital on two occasions but the SIU says medical records indicate she did not sustain any fractures and the injury was limited to a strained shoulder.
The matter has been referred to the Toronto Police Service for further investigation from within.
Read the SIU’s report below:
The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has terminated an investigation into the serious injury reportedly suffered by a 49-year-old woman in an interaction with a Toronto Police Service (TPS) officer on a horse during the demonstrations in Ottawa on February 18, 2022. The decision comes following an interview with the woman, and a review of police drone and body-worn camera footage, as well as the woman’s medical records.The woman was a participant in the protests in Ottawa on February 18, 2022. She was among a group of protesters on Rideau Street in front of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier when a police mounted unit proceeded into the crowd seeking to create distance between the front lines of protesters and police officers. One of the horses near the end of the unit contacted a man and the woman, knocking them to the ground. Police officers on foot moved in quickly to surround both the woman and the man, as protesters also moved in. The woman could be seen being assisted to her feet and standing within the line of police officers. She subsequently attended the Montfort Hospital and, on February 20, 2022, the Lennox & Addington County General Hospital with shoulder pain.A review of the available medical records indicates that the woman did not sustain any fractures and that her injury was limited to a strained shoulder. In the circumstances, as the woman did not sustain a ‘serious injury’ within the terms of the SIU’s mandate, the SIU does not have statutory jurisdiction to investigate the matter, and the file is closed.The matter has been referred to the TPS for further investigation as they deem appropriate.