A Quebec cop whose violent arrest of a Black man has earned the city of Laval a $275,000 lawsuit is now a prominent COVID-19 conspiracy theorist.
On May 25, the same day and hour that George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, Laval police arrested Samuel Bunche just north of Montreal. As previously reported by VICE World News, video footage of the arrest showed an officer dragging Bunche out of a car by his hair and hitting him on the head once he was on the ground.
Videos by VICE
That evening, as Bunche, his brother, and a friend headed to a store, they were pulled over by Laval police officer Maxime Ouimet.
According to court filings seen by the Journal de Montreal, Ouimet asked Bunche, “where are you going?” Bunche replied, “None of your business.”
Bunche alleged Ouimet went back to his police cruiser and returned with several other officers, according to CBC News. Ouimet then confronted Bunche, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and asked him to get out of the vehicle, stating it was “for an investigation.” Ouimet told Bunche, “if I put my hands on you, it won’t be funny,” Ouimet said in a video of the arrest. Neither Ouimet, nor any of the other officers at the scene, explained what investigation was taking place.
Bunche remained in the passenger seat with the door open, but didn’t exit the vehicle. After repeatedly insisting that he would arrest Bunche for “obstruction” if he didn’t get out of the car, Ouimet suddenly grabbed Bunche by his dreadlocks, dragging him from the car, and wrestling him to the ground.
According to CBC News, Bunche and the other occupants of the car were fined for not respecting COVID-19 social distancing rules. Quebec’s social distancing measures, however, don’t cover how many people may be in a car at the same time.
Bunche filed suit against the city of Laval for the aggressive arrest, seeking $275,000 in compensation for the violent arrest and alleged racial profiling.
“I’m fighting for everybody. For my community, and for everybody else, too,” Bunche told CBC News. Black residents of Montreal-North, where Bunche lives, have long reported racial profiling and police harassment. At the time of Bunche’s arrest, Laval police spokeswoman Sgt. Geneviève Major told CBC News the force “does not have a racial profiling problem.”
Laval police declined to comment on Bunche’s arrest or about whether they stand by their belief that the city does not have a racial profiling problem, citing the ongoing lawsuit. Ouimet did not respond to a request for comment.
Ouimet quit the force in October, after denying the pandemic and referring to Quebec Premier François Legault as a dictator on social media, according to the Montreal Gazette.
He has since become a pseudo-celebrity among conspiracy theorists, railing against the Quebec government, lockdown measures, and the mandatory mask mandate. Writing under the Facebook page “policier du peuple pour le peuple”—police officer by the people, for the people—he has amassed more than 20,000 followers. On his page, he calls the social distancing measures he used to enforce an “atrocity.”
Ironically, Ouimet used the Facebook page to both rail at the “ridiculous” and “illegal” COVID-19 measures, while also defending his violent arrest of Bunche, calling coverage of the case an attempt to “destroy his image.”
Ouimet said the lawsuit was an effort to discredit him and his conspiracy theories. “We’re not talking about the six other police officers who were there,” Ouimet wrote in a Facebook post. He blamed the “traditional fake news newspapers which invent stories.”
On Monday, Ouimet posted that “among the thousands of people I know, I’m happy to announce to you that I don’t know anyone who died directly because of this current cold.”
He continued, “I imagine that you would know dozens of dead in your circle, given this is a pandemic. Is it just me who is lucky?” In the comments, dozens of followers of the page reported that their friends and family contracted COVID-19, but brushed it off as mild.
More than 7,700 people have died of COVID-19 in Quebec alone, with the province now reporting more than 2,000 new cases per day.
Ouimet has had a bit of legal trouble since leaving the force. Laval police issued him a cease and desist letter after he wore his cop uniform to an anti-mask rally in Toronto.
According to La Presse, Ouimet has also been ordered to pay $17,000 to a Terrebonne, Quebec hair clinic, after making “injurious and malicious” comments on Facebook in 2018.
Ouimet made the defamatory comments against a rival hair clinic. Ouimet’s business, Scalp Elite, offers “micropigmentation” for bald or balding men—tiny scalp tattoos, essentially, designed to look like hair.
Ouimet was found in contempt of court over the proceedings—something that, if he were still employed by Laval police, may have earned him disciplinary action.
Follow Justin Ling on Twitter.
