Should police officers who fatally shot a mentally ill man in crisis have their names shielded from the public?
That’s the question facing Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice amid a lawsuit by the family of Ejaz Choudry, a father of four with schizophrenia, shot and killed by police west of Toronto in June 2020 after his family called a non-emergency line for help.
Lawyers for the five Peel Regional Police officers involved in the death of the 62-year-old — including one who fired two bullets into Choudry’s chest — say publishing their names could put them and their families at risk of physical violence.
Lawyers for the family say there is no credible risk to the officers and that a publication ban would infringe on the public’s right to know the identities of the officers entrusted with the powers that ended with Choudry’s death and the media’s ability to report openly on the case.
Are they going to withhold my name if I go to court? Nope.
If cops arrest me for something I didn’t do, and I go to court for it, and my reputation and life are ruined even though I’m acquitted, are they going to give one shit? Nope.
So it’s hard to imagine why they wouldn’t get the full consequences of interacting with the justice system exactly like all the folks they put there.