He wanted to kill police officers | Canada, a country of “non-believers,” Ngarukiye reportedly told an imam

Canada is a country of “non-believers”. So we have to kill police officers. This is what Ali Ngarukiye allegedly discussed with an imam a few months before attacking police officer Sanjay Vig. After having “executed his plan”, Ngarukiye then hid in the mosque of the same imam in Toronto.

This is the theory presented by the Crown on Monday in its pleadings at the trial of Ali Ngarukiye. The 24-year-old man is accused of attempting to kill officer Sanjay Vig of the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), on January 28, 2021 on Crémazie Boulevard, in Montreal.

After three months of hearings, dozens of witnesses and a hundred pieces of evidence, the trial of Ali Ngarukiye entered its home stretch on Monday with the Crown’s pleadings. It was in this highly publicized case that motorist Mamadi Camara was wrongly accused of the crime, before being released a few days later.

The numerous contradictions in Mamadi Camara’s testimony and the allegations of racial profiling against police officer Vig were at the heart of this first day of pleadings. The prosecutor M^e Jasmine Guillaume thus insisted on the fact that Agent Vig had not intercepted Mamadi Camara, a black man, “because of his race”, but because the latter was using his cell phone while driving.

“There are no traces of racial profiling. He did not treat Mr. Camara differently because of his race,” the prosecutor, who is teaming up with Mr. Camara, told the jury.^e Louis Bouthillier.

Also, if Agent Vig named Mamadi Camara as his attacker, it was an “honest mistake” [honest error]not profiling”, according to M^e Guillaume. The prosecutor presented the jury with photos of Mr. Camara and the accused side by side to illustrate their resemblance. “Look at their features,” she said.

A planned attack

According to the Crown’s theory, Ali Ngarukiye had planned his crime well. Moreover, a few months earlier, in the summer of 2020, he told an imam from Toronto, Hassan Habib, that he wanted to kill police officers in this country of “non-believers.” [non believers] “. This part of the evidence, however, was not elaborated on Monday.

Three days before the attack, according to the Crown, Ali Ngarukiye stole two vehicles, a Hyundai Elantra, then a Honda CRV. On the fateful day, the accused parked the Hyundai very close to the intersection where Officer Vig was located. The latter had then just intercepted Mamadi Camara.

According to the Crown, Ali Ngarukiye took advantage of the fact that Officer Vig was giving Mamadi Camara a ticket to hit him from behind with a metal bar. The accused then stole his service weapon and fired twice at the police officer, says the public prosecutor.

M^e Guillaume invited the jurors to take the metal bar in their hands. “It’s not an empty copper bar under the sink. It is heavy. [Vig] received at least three blows to the head before being shot and running for his life,” she pleaded.

The prosecutor dissected at length on Monday a surveillance video from the Ministry of Transport – of very poor definition – showing in the distance two silhouettes in “full struggle [struggle] “. According to the Crown, these images prove that Ngarukiye arrived from the alley to attack the police officer from behind.

911 calls from motorists were also played in the courtroom. “A police officer is being beaten!” He just shot! He took his gun! “, a woman shouts in one of the calls.

After attacking the police officer, Ali Ngarukiye left with the stolen Hyundai, then changed cars to go to Toronto, according to the Prosecution’s theory. The accused then hid at the Imam Hassan Habib mosque in Toronto. He returned two days late to Montreal.

M^e Guillaume devoted part of his argument to examining the contradictions in the testimony of Mamadi Camara, even though he was a Crown witness. “Camara’s version cannot be accepted in its entirety,” said M.^e Guillaume. Mr. Camara, for example, maintains that he has never used his phone while driving. However, the evidence indicates the opposite, according to the Prosecution.

Also, Mamadi Camara claims to have never received his ticket in person from Officer Vig and says he saw the police officer being attacked when he was just getting out of his vehicle. In both cases, Mamadi Camara is wrong, according to the Crown. Note that Mr. Camara’s account differs greatly from that of Agent Vig on certain points.

M^e Guillaume will continue his argument on Tuesday before Judge François Dadour. It will then be M’s turn^e Sharon Sandiford, defending, to address the jury.