Cop protester jailed for assault
Cop protester jailed for assault
The controversial protester who wore a “No Police State” sign at the funeral procession for Sgt. Ryan Russell was jailed Thursday after he was convicted of assault earlier this week. Eric Brazau, 46, was found guilty of assault with a weapon — his seventh violent offence conviction — for hitting Alan Norris with his car outside Brazau’s downtown Toronto home in July 2009.
Justice Alphonse Lacavera sentenced Brazau to 45 days in custody for assault with a weapon and breaching his probation. Brazau became a public figure when he held up a sign that stated “Soldier’s Die, Electricians Die and People Die” on one side and “No Police State” on the other at the enormous funeral for Russell on Jan. 18.
Brazau’s latest brush with the law occurred when Norris and his friend, Sharon Reeve arrived at Brazau’s home to serve him legal papers. Reeve’s mother was involved in a civil dispute with Brazau in the summer of 2009. Brazau tried to escape in his car without accepting the documents.
His car struck Norris as he stood on the sidewalk. Norris, who suffered a knee injury, toppled onto the hood of Brazau’s Volkswagen.
Brazau, a self-employed consultant, who breached his probation on an earlier assault charge, was also placed on two years probation. He received credit for seven days of pretrial custody.
The sentence was jointly proposed by Crown attorney Monica Gharabaway and defence counsel Michael Hassell. Brazau, who stated his free speech rights were handcuffed when he was arrested at the huge police funeral procession, also faces allegations Monday at College Park courts that he criminally harassed a hijab-wearing Muslim woman last summer.
Police allege Brazau was riding his bike near a Muslim woman walking in the Parliament and Carleton Sts. area when he called her a terrorist and said he was against Muslims. It is alleged Brazau continued the anti-Muslim rant on two other occasions and urged her to “go back to Afganistan.” The woman reported the incidents to police and Brazau was charged July 24.
Brazau told the Sun’s Joe Warmington that he wore the offensive sign outside the massive police funeral at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to express his free speech and didn’t mean to offend the Russell family. He was taken away in handcuffs but later released without charges.
“I wanted to test if it is a police state,” Brazau said. “And what happened to me for holding that sign is the kind of thing that would happen in one.
“Would I, Joe, have been arrested if I had been holding a sign that said ‘Rest in Peace, Hero’?” If you say no, then you have to say what is the difference?”
