Doug Ford calls for judge to apologize after Toronto cops accused of lying
· Toronto Sun
Ontario Premier Doug Ford believes the judge who accused three Toronto Police officers of lying during the trial of the man acquitted of killing Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup should apologize.
Ford made the statement Wednesday morning, a day after an Ontario Provincial Police investigation cleared the officers of serious allegations of misconduct during Umar Zameer’s murder trial.
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Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy instructed the jury that they must consider the possibility of collusion amongst the three officers who witnessed Northrup’s death in July 2021.
“When three versions of an event are wrong, and wrong in the same way, you must also consider whether there has been collusion between those witnesses,” Molloy told the jury.
Zameer was found not guilty on April 21, 2024, after the jury ruled he had no intent to kill the officer after plainclothes cops stopped him and his family inside a vehicle at an underground parking garage.
‘Judge should apologize’
“It cleared the police officers and maybe the judge should apologize for accusing them of everything under the sun,” Ford said at an unrelated press conference in Wellington North Township.
“That’s the first step. Full disclosure, I love our police. I love all our police services across the province.”
The report was requested by Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw in April 2023 so that the OPP could conduct an independent review into comments made by Justice Molloy during her charge to the jury.
The investigation cleared Det. Lisa Forbes and Det. Consts. Scharnil Pais and Antonio Correa of lying during their testimony.
Police association also wants apology
The Toronto Police Association thanked Ford “for always having our members’ backs and for affirming the credibility of this report,” they wrote on social . “Accountability must apply to everyone, including judges.”
Police union president Clayton Campbell was first to call for an apology from Justice Molloy for her accusations against the three officers following the report’s release.
“(Northrup’s) death is still deeply felt by his wife Margaret, his three children, his colleagues and friends,” Campbell said Tuesday.
“Jeff is no longer with us as he stood in front of a car — a fact that has been confirmed today by the OPP — he was struck and killed by Umar Zameer. This is a fact, and one that has been repeatedly overshadowed.”
Campbell said the impact of the judge’s accusation against the officers has tarnished their reputations.
“They’ve been living with these shadows of a doubt from the comments made by the trial judge Justice Anne Molloy,” Campbell said. “She categorically said that our members were neither truthful nor reliable. She stated that our officers pointed their guns at the head of Mr. Zameer and his wife. Today, I clearly say to Justice Molloy: you are wrong.”
If officers can be held accountable for their actions, so too should judges, Campbell said. The right thing for the judge to do is to apologize, he added.
“While Jeff’s grieving widow and colleagues sat just feet away, (Molloy) apologized to a man who killed a police officer,” Campbell said.
— with files from Bryan Passafiume