Ontario police watchdog closes investigation into mounted officers at 'Freedom Convoy'

Ontario’s police watchdog has closed an investigation into the conduct of mounted police officers who pushed through a crowd of demonstrators during the operation to remove “Freedom Convoy” protesters from downtown Ottawa in February.

The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was called in to examine the conduct of members of the Toronto Police Service following reports that a woman had been seriously injured.

Officers on horseback had moved through the crowd just outside the Chateau Laurier hotel on Feb. 18, as police began a multi-day operation to clear demonstrators out of the downtown core following a three-week occupation. A 49-year-old woman was knocked to the ground as the officers rode by. She was able to get up and was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury.

In a release Monday, the SIU said the woman’s injury did not fall within their mandate.

“A review of the available medical records indicates that the woman did not sustain any fractures and that her injury was limited to a strained shoulder. In the circumstances, as the woman did not sustain a ‘serious injury’ within the terms of the SIU’s mandate, the SIU does not have statutory jurisdiction to investigate the matter, and the file is closed,” the SIU said.

The watchdog said the decision comes following an interview with the woman, and a review of police drone and body-worn camera footage, as well as the woman’s medical records.

The woman was the subject of a debunked online rumour that she had been killed in the interaction. Both the Ottawa Police Service and Ottawa paramedics confirmed no one had died, and the woman's family members also confirmed she was alive.

A previously announced investigation into Vancouver Police Department officers who fired non-lethal rounds at protesters in Ottawa on Feb. 19 remains ongoing. SIU spokesperson Monica Hudon told CTV News Ottawa in an email that two men have been identified as having been struck by projectiles but they were not seriously injured. Two subject officials and three witness officials have been designated at this time.

The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person.