University of Ottawa prof not impressed by school’s lack of effort to address ‘shameful’ incident
Posted Jun 17, 2019 02:46:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A professor from the University of Ottawa said campus security had no right to arrest a student who failed to produce ID, and he's ashamed by the actions of the university.
On Ottawa Today with Mark Sutcliffe, Amir Attaran, Professor of Law & Medicine at the University of Ottawa, believes the institution should issue an apology.
“I'm disgusted with my university administration for not finding the words. If they look in the dictionary under the letter 'S' they will find the word sorry,” said Attaran.
“I think their conduct is shameful,” he added. “'I'm personally embarrassed to be associated with the University of Ottawa.”
On Friday, June 14, Jamal Boyce was handcuffed and detained on-campus for trespassing. The student said he had been skateboarding, but was told by security staff that he was being detained for failure to produce ID.
“In our law, he can't be arrested simply because he didn't produce ID. That is illegal,” Attaran explained.
Attaran said security is allowed to ask to see a person's ID, but that person doesn't have to show it. If that's the case, he said all security can do is ask that person to leave the property — they are not allowed to make an arrest.
The school's president has asked the university's Human Rights Office to look into the incident and won't take any action against the guard involved until the investigation is complete.
