February 2020
A video showing two Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Special Constables pepper-spraying and wrestling with a violent passenger on a TTC bus on Friday, 7 February, has brought swift condemnation from Toronto Mayor John Torry and Councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam and Brad Bradford on social media, calling the actions of the Special Constables “irresponsible” and “downright unacceptable.”
The 12-second clip of a four-minute incident was all it took for the city politicians to pass their judgement and condemn the Special Constables.
Mayor Torry further stated that “…no incident on the TTC should end in any kind of violence.”
My question to Mayor Torry is does this extend to passengers assaulting TTC Special Constables doing their job?
The rest of the story can be found in a column by Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy (see link below), but essentially the Special Constables were conducting proof of payment checks, when a female passenger alerted them to a man threatening customers.
This male customer allegedly threatened and assaulted the Special Constables when they went to speak to him.
Steven Thackerberry was arrested and charged with two counts of assaulting peace officers, two counts of uttering death threats and one count of failing to leave (the streetcar) as directed.
Why are you throwing two TTC Special Constables under the bus, Mayor Torry?
