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A petition calling for the termination of a Kelowna RCMP officer caught on camera dragging a UBCO student down the hall and pushing her head down with a boot has attracted 340,000 signatures.
The Change.org petition, Justice for Mona Wang, has taken off since the surveillance video was released last week as a part of a civil lawsuit Wang launched against the RCMP over the violent wellness check in January.
After first being published by Castanet News and CTV, Wang's story has been covered across North America and in the United Kingdom, adding more signatories to the petition that was launched one week ago.
“We need to do better for our citizens struggling with their mental health. They should be met with trained professionals, not uniformed officers. The most vulnerable people in our communities should not be dragged down hallways, pulled by the hair, and stepped on in their times of need,” states the petition.
The petition goes on to call the RCMP and federal government to fire the officer in the video, Const. Lacey Browning, and see her charged with assault.
Wang’s lawsuit alleges Const. Browning entered her apartment and found the student lying on the bathroom floor in a state of semi-consciousness and ordered her to stand.
“The plaintiff could not stand on her own, and therefore, the plaintiff did not respond to Browning’s commands,” the suit says.
The claim alleges Browning stepped on the student's arm and kicked her in the stomach while she was down, assaulting her while shouting “stop being dramatic” and “control your [expletive] dog, don’t make me hurt him.”
In her response to the lawsuit, Const. Browning claims Wang had to be subdued after she was startled awake by the officer performing a sternum rub. The officer said she dragged Wang from her room to the front lobby to ensure other officers could access the apartment building.
Wang called the situation “very degrading.”
Const. Browning has since been placed on administrative duty and an internal investigation is underway.
One of Western Canada’s top criminologists told Castanet the conduct of the officer in the video “doesn’t make sense” to him.
