Toronto Metropolitan University students walk out over ‘unsettling’ arrest video

Dozens of students and faculty members walked out of Toronto Metropolitan University this afternoon in protest of an incident that took place last week where a student was shoved to the ground by a campus security guard. A video of the incident was posted online and has sparked outrage among the community.

The incident took place on Sept. 19 during an event with minister of artificial intelligence Evan Solomon, who is also the MP for the school’s riding.

The video begins with several people yelling at a security guard who appears to be trying to detain a woman. The guard then picks up the woman, walks a few steps and shoves her to the ground. A second guard then helps to restrain the woman who can be heard yelling “you’re hurting me.”

“Today we are here to focus and be in solidarity with the student, who was brutalized for their support of Palestine,” said Lila Bennett, one of the event’s organizers.

Among the demands organizers have for the school is to fire the security guards involved and issue “a public apology condemning the brutal assault that took place against a pro-Palestinian student here on campus by security,” Bennett said.

The video, which was shared with CTV News, was blurred before it was released; it’s also unclear what happened in the moments before the camera started rolling. The university has launched an investigation into what happened.

“The video is unsettling and difficult to watch, and it understandably has raised questions and concerns from our community,” said Saeed Zolfaghari, the school’s vice president of administration & operations.

“We are still working to confirm the facts of what occurred,” Zolfaghari said. “At this time, we can share that the person arrested was one of several individuals asked to leave the event by security due to disruptive behaviour, which appears to violate the Dais’ Events Community Guidelines and TMU’s Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct.”

Both security officers involved in the incident have been reassigned and will not return to campus pending the outcome of the investigation.

Organizers of today’s rally say the aim was to show solidarity with the student in the video and put pressure on both TMU and the federal government when it comes to the war in Gaza.

Demonstrators want TMU to disclose and divest any investments associated with Israel while there are calls for Ottawa to do more to help end the nearly two-year conflict.

While many who attended today’s rally hid their faces and didn’t want to speak on camera, Ayla Goodrow says it was important for her to be here.

“Just seeing the number of people here today, it gives hope,” she said.

Still, it was an unsettling demonstration for some including a handful of Jewish students who visited the Kerr Quad where the event was taking place. While the students support free speech, they say some of the language being used is harmful.

“Other people have committed violent acts using the same slogans as that so be considerate of everyone in this community,” said Coby Sadeh, a fourth year TMU student.

The school says its review into the Sept. 19 incident is ongoing and will take further action, if necessary.