AFRICAN AMERICAN HIP HOP PHOTOGRAPHER BEATEN BY TORONTO POLICE FOR ALLEGEDLY CAUSING A DISTURBANCE OF THE PEACE

TORONTO, CANADA…Police brutality, according to the numbers, is becoming rampant in Toronto. And now American tourists seem to also be susceptible.

On October 16, about approximately 1:40 pm in front of the Econolodge Hotel ( 335 Jarvis Street ) in downtown Toronto , Tonye Allen and his fiancée, Ann Brown, having just checked out of the hotel, were at the curb attempting to hail a cab. While in the process, a police car from the 51 st Division pulled over at started asking questions of the two. When they answered, the officer said he didn't like their attitude, especially after they sought to find out why they were being questioned. Enraged the officer, jumped out of the car, grabbed Mr. Allen and called for backup. When backup came, there was no questioning. They immediately all descended upon Mr. Allen pepper sprayed him, knocked him to the floor, hit and kicked him. Someone on the street was videotaping the incident as onlookers were appalled. The person videotaping was told he too would be arrested. They also told Ms. Brown she was going to be arrested for disturbing the peace when she sought to see what was happening to Mr. Allen and when she went to seek help from bystanders. She was pushed, grabbed by the throat and also subdued by another police officer. The police refused to tell her or Mr. Allen the arrest charges. They refused to tell Ms. Brown their names or badge numbers. They refused to tell Ms. Brown what division they were taking Mr. Allen to. One of the witnesses on the street told her what division the police were from.

After arriving at the police station Ms. Brown spoke with a Det. Moyer who informed her: "We get all kinds of crap from the public everyday and we don't have to take it," he told her. When she said they within their rights to question the officer as to his reason for singling them out, and that we were in a free country, Det. Moyer said, "This ( Canada) is not a free country."

Mr. Allen and Ms. Brown are both African American. According to a former officer, the problem of police brutality has gotten worse in Toronto. Sgt. Jim Cassells told CBC News. "police brass have covered up, refused to investigate or buried cases of alleged police brutality, public complaints and internal corruption for years." (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/05/05/toronto-police-misconduct.html )

Racial profiling in the city has also become a problem, according to recent studies by the University of Toronto. "I wholeheartedly believe we were victims of racial profiling and Mr. Allen a victim of Toronto police brutality. We were in front of a hotel, with several large bags as well as our pet in a pet travel bag. We were not suspicious. There was no other reason to question us other than we were black," says Ms. Brown, a respected freelance journalist. "As such, I am reaching out to the local community activists. I will also contact the NAACP and Jesse Jackson's Operation Push to encourage a boycott of the City of Toronto by African American tourists and conventioneers." Ms. Brown has written several glowing articles about Toronto and was in fact working on another piece during this visit.

Mr. Allen is a photographer whose work has appeared in L.A. Weekly, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Vibe Magazine, The Source , among other publications. An avid traveler, he has never experienced anything like this incident. In his 45 years, he has never once been arrested.

Ms. Brown is a freelance writer whose work as appeared in Black Enterprise Magazine, Essence Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Playboy Magazine, The Source , and various other publications.