Reodica inquest concludes, but the saga continues. The implications for race relations are ominous

The coroner's inquest into the police shooting of Jeffrey Reodica has ended and the four-member jury has issued its recommendations. As might be expected in a case like this, no one is satisfied.

Reodica was a Filipino teenager shot to death by Det. Const. Dan Belanger during a confrontation between police and an armed mob composed mainly of Filipino youth in May 2004. The day before the shooting, which occurred in a part of Scarborough sometimes called Ben Jungle, there had been a confrontation between some Filipinos and whites. The next day, a mostly Filipino group went looking for revenge. They were chasing a group of white boys when police were called. Reodica was shot while police tried to bring this dangerous situation under control. A detailed if somewhat one-sided account of the event can be found in a Toronto Star story by Isabel Teotonio and Jim Rankin.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, which is responsible for investigating police shootings, concluded in September, 2004 that Belanger's actions were justified. The family, however, didn't accept the SIU's conclusion. Neither did their lawyer, Barry Swadron, who has since accused the police of racism. Filipino advocacy groups have also latched onto the case. According to an article in the Toronto Sun:

"We have a number of concerns about anti-Filipino systemic racism," lawyer Michael Leitold said during a break in the inquest, where he represents the Community Alliance for Social Justice, a Filipino umbrella organization founded in the wake of Reodica's death.

Reodica's family and lawyers, as well as various political agitators, treated the coroner's inquest as a trial of Det. Const. Dan Belanger even though that was never the purpose of the proceedings. In the words of Sun editor Lorrie Goldstein:

An inquest examines the circumstances of a death and how similar deaths can be prevented. It doesn't lay blame. It's not a criminal trial. It doesn't use the same rules of evidence.

But this inquest increasingly resembles, in my view, an unfair trial of the Toronto plainclothes officer who fatally shot Reodica, 17, in May 2004, even though the officer, Det.-Const. Dan Belanger, has not been charged with any offence.

Of course, since Reodica's family and lawyers wanted the inquest to do something it wasn't intended to do, namely find Belanger guilty of an unjustified shooting, they aren't satisfied. From a story in Saturday's Toronto Star (Reodica findings blasted by Isabel Teotonio, October 13):

Willie Reodica, the teen's father, called the recommendations "garbage" and declared there had been a serious "miscarriage of justice."

"This was a waste of taxpayers' money," said Reodica. "The police are the winners - it's as if they've done nothing wrong."

Reodica family lawyer Barry Swadron explained that while the recommendations were helpful, his clients were extremely disappointed because presiding coroner Dr. Bonita Porter warned the jury they might not have sufficient information to make recommendations about the civilian Special Investigations Unit - which concluded the officer who shot Reodica acted correctly.

"The most disappointing element of the inquest is that the SIU has got off unscathed," Swadron said outside court. "There were all kinds of mistakes the SIU made and for some reason this coroner made a ruling that insulated the SIU from any accountability, and that's one of the most unfortunate things."

And so the saga continues:

Swadron plans to ask Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin to investigate the SIU's handling of the case and said he is considering applying for a judicial review of Porter's charge to the jury. Meanwhile, the family's $5.4 million civil suit against the officers, the Toronto Police Services Board and former chief Julian Fantino - recently appointed to head the OPP - continues.

Sometime ago, I asked whether Canada's changing racial demography was important or not. Of course, it's important and the Reodica case gives us an example of why. We are seeing more and more accusations of racism against the police. We are seeing defendants play the race card to get lighter sentences. We are witnessing violent confrontations between different racial groups, some of which lead to people people being killed. In fact, it was just such a violent confrontation that led to Reodica's shooting.

As Toronto and Canada become more diverse, racial tension will become worse. We are going to see more accusations of racism levelled against the police and other authorities. By deliberately altering the country's demography, our political class has undermined social stability and put our society on the road to permanent racial conflict. Demography is destiny, but our leaders are too blinded by multicultural ideology to see it. God help Canada.

See also:

More racial tension: 2004 shooting created rift between Toronto police and Filipinos

Lawyer accuses police of 'racism'

Is the officer presumed guilty because he is white?

Lorrie Goldstein on the Reodica inquest

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