Buddy Tavares is a Canadian from Kelowna, BC who was was wrongly arrested and assaulted by the RCMP on January 7 2011 in Kelowna for firing shots at a golf course, where he was employed to scare geese using blanks. Const. Geoff Mantler was suspended with pay after he was accused of using excessive force after he was accused of using excessive force during the arrest.
Police were responding to a report of shots fired near the Harvest Golf Club. Officers later apprehended the "suspected shooter," Tavares, on a Kelowna street.
A freelance reporter who observed the arrest began video-recording events as police converged on Tavares with their guns drawn. Tavares, 51, is seen getting out of his truck and, on police orders, falling to his hands and knees. Next, the RCMP officer kicked Tavares in the face. Moments later, the video shows the handcuffed Tavares lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Police charged Tavares with careless use of a firearm and, trotting out a popular gun-grabber excuse, said the charge was connected with a domestic violence situation, even though neither Tavares' ex-wife nor his current girlfriend made any such complaint (see video).
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That's what it is, an allegation, because here I am. I'm not violated, he didn't touch me, threaten me, hurt me or anything so, I'd like to squash that because he didn't do anything wrong to me.
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| — Trudy Tavares
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Following a public outcry and several rallies in support of Tavares, all charges were dropped and the investigation into the officer's actions is ongoing as of Feb. 22, 2011.
Adding insult to injury
In spite of having committed no crime and showing no sign of being a danger to anyone, the court still ordered Tavares to surrender all his guns because he suffered a brain injury in a motorcycle accident that happened more than a year before.
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