The Abdirahman Abdi inquest is being livestreamed during the day here.
The first day of a coroner’s inquest into the death of a Black man who died in 2016 after a violent altercation with Ottawa police began Monday with a rare glimpse into his life before coming to Ottawa, and his mental health struggles once he arrived in the city.
The inquest’s opening moments also laid out what participants expect will be a weeks-long process diving at times into uncomfortable and contentious issues.
On July 25, 2016, Abdirahman Abdi, a 38-year-old Somali-Canadian, was pronounced dead a day after he was arrested during a physical struggle that happened in front of his Hintonburg apartment building.
Abdi’s death sparked outrage in Ottawa and beyond, and led to questions about police use of force and their handling of Black men and mental health calls.
One of the arresting officers was found not guilty of manslaughter in 2020. Abdi’s family and police settled a lawsuit later that year. The inquest, taking place entirely virtually, is mandatory because Abdi died in police custody.
In addition to revisiting Abdi’s interactions with police that morning, the inquest will widen the aperture to focus on a broader host of issues including:
- Officers’ handling of Abdi after he was handcuffed and before paramedics arrived.
- His care under paramedics and hospital staff.
- Police training and policies on use of force including management of “apparently unconscious persons,” equipment, dealing with people in crisis, and management of 911 calls involving mental health.
- “Intercultural competence” and anti-Black racism.
The inquest will also provide details about Abdi’s personal and medical history, including his fluctuating mental health status in the days before his death.
Lawrence Greenspon, the lawyer for Abdi’s family, said the main impetus for settling the lawsuit was an agreement for Ottawa police to implement a new mental health response strategy.
The family is disappointed “in the lack of progress made” but hopes “positive change” will come from the inquest, he added.
‘He was always excited about life’
Alessandra Hollands, one of the lawyers stickhandling the inquest, started out by saying it’s important to understand the circumstances of Abdi’s life when examining his death.
The inquest is significant for Ottawa and the province, she said, “because the process of inquiring into Mr. Abdi’s death makes our community safer, particularly for persons who are living with mental health issues and who are Black or racialized [and] come into contact with police.”
Born in Somalia, Abdi was one of seven siblings and lived his entire life with his tight-knit family, according to a statement read out by Greenspon.
Abdi lived part of his life in a refugee camp in Kenya where he provided translation services because he spoke English well, and later studied agriculture at a college in Ethiopia.
“He was always excited about life, engaging with and befriending everyone he met,” according to the statement.
WATCH | The Abdirahman Abdi inquest has begun. Here’s what you need to know:
WARNING: This video contains graphic content | Eight years after Abdirahman Abdi died following a violent struggle with Ottawa police, a coroner’s inquest is bringing the event back into the spotlight. Here’s what you need to know.
The family moved to Canada in 2009, and Abdi returned to Ethiopia in 2015 to get married. But when he returned to Ottawa that year, Abdi became silent and reclusive and began to experience mental health problems.
In the months that followed, Abdi was treated both in hospital and at an outpatient clinic, according to a brief overview provided by Hollands.
“He had periods of improvement and more difficult periods,” she said, adding that he was prescribed medication but did not always take it.
In July 2016, the same month Abdi died, one of his doctors found Abdi presented signs of a “schizophrenia spectrum illness.” Both that doctor and another psychiatrist who treated Abdi are expected to testify during the inquest.
Abdi’s family remained by his side and was never the same after his “tragic and unnecessary death” death, Greenspon said. Abdi’s daughter was born seven months later, Greenspon added.
Who the inquest won’t hear from
The two Ottawa police officers involved in the violent altercation with Abdi were responding to calls that Abdi had groped, touched or grabbed women in and around a coffee shop in Hintonburg that morning.
The women are not testifying during the inquest and their names are being withheld to avoid making them relive that experience, Hollands said, adding that Ottawa police investigated those incidents and information they gathered is being fed into the inquest.
Abdi was told that morning by a manager that his interaction with a female employee the day before had made her uncomfortable.
Darren Courtney, who saw some of the aftermath outside the coffee shop, was the first witness called Monday. Courtney is a psychiatrist from Toronto who was visiting Ottawa and saw Abdi thrusting himself against a woman near the coffee shop.
He spoke quietly to Abdi in an attempt to buy time until police arrived, which Courtney saw as a necessary intervention given Abdi’s instability, he told the inquest.
The 911 operator did not ask Courtney if Abdi exhibited any signs of mental illness, nor did Courtney relay any such concerns to the first officer who dealt with Abdi.
“There’s a lot going on, as you said, and the priority at this point is getting Mr. Abdi apprehended and ensuring that everyone is safe. Is that fair?” a lawyer for the Ottawa Police Service asked.
“Yes,” Courtney replied.
As the trial heard, Abdi walked away from the first officer and was then involved in the struggle with police in front of his apartment building.
Acquitted officer on witness list
Const. Daniel Montsion, the officer acquitted of manslaughter, did not testify during his trial but is expected to offer his account during the inquest.
Coroner’s inquests are not legal processes but rather fact-finding missions meant to classify the nature of a person’s death, with jurors asked to make non-binding recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
“The fact that inquests don’t blame anybody doesn’t mean that there’s no blame to go around. Of course there may be,” said David Eden, the presiding officer. “It’s simply a matter that you, the inquest jury, don’t make a finding on.”
Eden added: “We will be getting into some complex and contentious issues.”
The five jurors must declare Abdi’s manner of death as either from natural causes, accident, homicide, suicide or undetermined, which Eden suggested might require “more analysis” than the simpler questions of when and where Abdi died.
Eleven groups have standing at the inquest and can ask questions of each witness.
Those parties include the Abdi family, Ottawa police, Montsion and the other officer who arrested Abdi, the police force’s oversight board, and advocates for people struggling with mental health or who have been involved in police incidents.
The inquest is expected to hear from 27 witnesses and take place through Dec. 16.
