Archive for June, 2008

Toronto Police Fail to Reveal Warrant or Disclose Reasons for Raid

on Home of Respected Malvern Youth Leader Brian Henry

Toronto, Ontario, June 3, 2008 – Brian Henry is a well-respected member of the Toronto community who works with some of the most “at-risk” young persons in the GTA.

The 2006 movie Empz for Life directed by legendary Canadian film maker Allan King, documented the tireless work of Brian Henry in helping troubled youth overcome daily challenges in their lives. Empz for Life documents Brian Henry as a young volunteer social worker who – on a daily basis – completes the impossible: Henry makes it his job not only to try and reach kids, but to get them to think about the future they’ve already more or less given up on.

Well-reformed from his own troubled past, Henry understands the challenges “high risk” youth face in the GTA. Indeed community youth respect Henry because he has been where they are today. Henry’s own scars of street life and tattoos of years past are only reminders of a life that Henry left 8 years ago to help youth today not follow the same path Henry followed as a youth.

On Saturday May 17, 2008, more than a dozen heavily armed police officers from 41 Division raided the Henry family home while he and his family were asleep on a “tip” from an “unknown informant” that illegal guns were in the home. The police never showed Henry or his wife a copy of the search warrant despite repeated requests. Armed with automatic weapons, shields, riot gear and a canine unit, police broke through the front door of the Henry family home just after midnight. Henry’s wife who had given birth to the couple’s fifth child only three weeks prior was forcefully pinned face down on the floor and handcuffed by police in front of her toddler children who looked on in horror. Clothes were strewn about the family bedrooms and holes were made in walls of the home as officers outside the house  did chin-ups on a tree in front of the yard during the raid. Police dogs from the canine unit urinated in the home where Henry and his wife raise their five young children.

The results of the raid were that no guns were found.

Henry, who also works with the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) in an alternative school program for youth who face acute challenges in the school system, is well-known for helping young people get out of a life of crime and making positive changes in their lives. Yet because the actions of officers from 41 Division, Henry has been suspended by the TCDSB despite all of his successes in helping youth from some of the most troubled communities in the GTA.

The behaviour of the police officers at 41 Division amounts to a gross violation of the rights of Brian Henry and his family and ought to concern all residents of Toronto.  The actions of Toronto Police fell far below the standard of care expected of them and those involved must be held accountable for their actions. The oppressive actions of the police will not deter Brian Henry from continuing to do his duty in making Toronto communities better and safer for all members of our society. Faced daily with kids who drift back into the streets, official institutions that suspect his motives, and the police who prowl the neighbourhood streets constantly harassing youth, Henry is doing exactly what he’s attempting to convince “at-risk youth”: Fighting against all odds to succeed.

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If you would like more information on this issue, or to schedule an interview with Brian Henry, please contact his legal counsel Aswani K. Datt at 905-755-0104.