Death of Abisay Cruz
{{Short description|2025 death of Abisay Cruz after police restraint in Montreal, Canada}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Abisay Cruz
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = March 1996
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|3|30|1996|3|17|df=y}}
| death_place = Saint-Michel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| parents =
}}
Abisay Cruz, aged 29, died after being arrested and restrained by officers of the Montreal City Police Service on 30 March 2025.
Police were called to the apartment where Cruz was restrained to deal with an individual "in crisis". Following their arrival, they attempted to arrest and restrain Cruz. Videos of this show police officers kneeling on Cruz's back and Cruz stating that he was "going to die". Cruz later lost consciousness, but paramedics were refused access to him until the police had brought him out of the building. He was transferred by ambulance to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Several family members of Cruz, present at the incident, report that the police used excessive force in the arrest and speculated that his harsh treatment was motivated by police racism. The incident was referred to the Bureau des Enquêtes Indépendantes, the entity responsible for investigating potential police misconduct in the Province of Quebec.
Abisay Cruz
Cruz lived in an apartment in the Saint-Michel district of Montreal, a deprived area of the city which is home to large numbers of migrants from Latin America, Haiti and North Africa.{{cite news |last1=Olson |first1=Isaac |title=Family of man who died after Montreal police intervention calls for public coroner's inquiry |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/family-coroners-inquiry-montreal-police-1.7516854 |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=CBC |date=23 April 2025}}{{cite news |last1=Rubertucci |first1=Alyssia |title='I miss my dad': Family says goodbye to Abisay Cruz, died following Montreal police intervention |url=https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/05/02/public-coroner-inquiry-montrealer-police-intervention/ |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=City News |date=2 May 2025}} He was the child of Spanish-speaking Marcelina Isidro{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Erika |title='They destroyed my life': Family of Montreal man who died in police intervention demands public coroner's inquiry |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/they-destroyed-my-life-family-of-montreal-man-who-died-in-police-intervention-demands-public-coroners-inquiry/ |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=CTV News |date=23 April 2025}} and brother of Josue Cruz as well as other brothers and sisters.{{cite news |last1=Rubertucci |first1=Alyssia |last2=Das-Brown |first2=India |title=Family of 29-year-old Montrealer killed amid police intervention want public coroner's inquiry |url=https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/04/23/family-montrealer-killed-police-intervention-coroners-inquiry/ |access-date=26 May 2025 |date=23 April 2025}} He left behind a 9-year-old son.
The Journal de Montréal wrote two days after his death that Cruz had criminal convictions for drug-dealing and assault.{{cite news |last1=Pilon |first1=Francis |title=Abisay Cruz: Vigie pour l'homme mort durant une intervention policière |url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2025/04/01/video-abisay-cruz-vigie-pour-lhomme-mort-durant-une-intervention-policiere |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=Le Journal de Montréal |date=1 April 2025}}
Death
On 30 March 2025, police were called to the apartment where Abisay Cruz was resident, as he was in a distressed state, described by family members as a "crisis". The family then describe the officers becoming violent with Cruz. According to Cruz's mother, the police officers forced him to the ground by his neck, then knelt on his back. While being forced to the ground, witnesses report that Cruz was kicked in the stomach. There was broken glass on the floor, which pierced Cruz's chin. Mrs Isidro pleaded with the police to stop, but was ignored.
Videos of the incident show Cruz on the balcony, handcuffed, repeatedly thrown to the floor by police officers and with one officer kneeling on his back. In one of the family's videos, taken during the period when he was being knelt on by the police officer, Cruz can clearly be heard to say Je vais mourir (I'm going to die). Shortly after this, Isidro reports that her son had his eyes open but was unresponsive and "seemed dead".
The family reported that paramedics were not allowed into the building and that the police dragged the unconscious Cruz down the stairs. Once outside the building, an attempt was made to resuscitate Cruz by paramedics, with a video showing them pumping on his chest. Cruz was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he was declared dead.{{cite news |last1=Martinez Mendez |first1=Paloma |title=Mort d'un Latino-Montréalais « en crise » : l'intervention policière dénoncée |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/fr/nouvelle/2155071/deces-abisay-cruz-spvm-montreal |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=Radio Canada International |date=9 April 2025}} However, videos circulating on social media in early April suggest he may have died outside his apartment block.
The death was referred to the Bureau des Enquêtes Indépendantes (BEI), the watchdog responsible for investigating police conduct in Quebec.{{cite news |title=Mort d'un individu en crise à Montréal: le BEI ouvre une enquête |url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2025/03/30/mort-dun-homme-en-crise-a-montreal-le-bei-ouvre-une-enquete |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=Journal de Montreal |date=30 March 2025}} As of May 2025, they were still investigating the death.
Demonstrations
On 1 April 2025, the Journal de Montréal reported that a vigil had been held on a corner near the Cruz apartment. At the vigil, local people demanded "justice for Abisay" and stated that the police had denied the dead man medical attention.
On Sunday 6 April 2025, a demonstration critical of the Montreal police occurred in Saint-Michel. According to Radio-Canada, around 200 people participated in the protest.{{cite news |last1=Séguin |first1=Charles |last2=Emond |first2=Arianne |title=Mort d'Abisay Cruz : « c'est le genre d'événement qui traumatise tout le monde » |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2154273/manifestations-abisay-spvm-mort-police |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=Radio Canada |date=7 April 2025}} Demonstrators marched past the Saint-Michel police post, with members of the Cruz family in attendance. Some of the demonstrators wore balaclavas and hoodies with a picture of Cruz. At around 16:30, when the march arrived at Boulevard Pie-IX, fireworks were thrown and the police began dispersal actions. Six arrests were made, four for armed aggression and two for assaulting a police officer.
Following the demonstration, Montreal police called for calm, and the family of Cruz asked people not to protest, but to support their call for a public coroner's inquiry.
Allegations of police culpability
From the initial accounts of the family and the circulation of videos of the event, widespread criticism of the actions of the attending officers has occurred. Cruz's mother and brother have frequently questioned the level of violence employed by the police and the refusal to allow medical staff access to Cruz within the apartment, stating that he was treated "like an animal". The family also sustain racism was a factor in his treatment.
Fo Niemi, head of the local anti-racist group Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations questioned the immediate use of force by officers. This would appear to contradict the police's policy directive to pursue de-escalation, especially in cases of individuals in states of crisis. Niemi also complained that no autopsy report had been given to the family, and they had not received notification of the cause of death. The family called for a public coroners enquiry to resolve these questions.
Réne Saint-Léger, the Cruz family's lawyer, pointed out that the restraint technique of kneeling on a suspect, as taught at police academies, required the officer to allow the detainee to move onto their side after a short period. This did not occur in the fatal detention of Cruz.
Concordia University professor, Ted Rutland, whose field is violence and policing, questioned the amount of force used and the lack of action when it was clear Cruz was struggling.{{cite news |last1=Madoc-Jones |first1=Gareth |title=Questions emerge about level of force used in Montreal police intervention that preceded man's death |url=https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/04/07/march-montreal-honours-abisay-cruz/ |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=CityNews |date=7 April 2025}} He said out that no crime had been committed by Cruz, and asked why, therefore, the handcuffs were necessary. Rutland also suggested restraint by the three officers in attendance was unnecessary, as Cruz clearly posed no threat to them. Finally, he noted that local elected officials had made no comment or offer of condolences on Cruz's death.
Several community members have stated that, since the event, there is no longer trust in the police in Saint-Michel. Writing on Montreal culture website The Rover Ted Rutland and Svens Telemacque contrasted the incident with Montreal police chief Fady Dagher's recent statement that parents should not "close their door" to the police when they come to talk to them.{{cite web |last1=Rutland |first1=Ted |last2=Telemacque |first2=Svens |title=Opinion: Abisay Cruz and the Politics of Abandonment |url=https://therover.ca/opinion-abisay-cruz-and-the-politics-of-abandonment/ |website=The Rover |date=7 May 2025 |access-date=26 May 2025}} In the article they suggest that, given the police's treatment of Cruz, refusing to allow entry to the police seemed the most logical course of action for a responsible parent. They concluded that people in underfunded poor suburbs of Montreal were right to distrust the police and the political establishment that ignored them.
By contrast, Roger Ferland, ex-inspector of police, argued that the officers were attempting to follow a protocol in a difficult situation, and that comment should wait until after the conclusion of the BEI investigation.{{cite news |last1=Arkat |first1=Yahia |url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2025/04/07/mort-dabisay-cruz-le-travail-des-policiers-ne-devrait-pas-etre-mis-en-cause-selon-un-ex-enqueteur |title=Mort d'Abisay Cruz: le travail des policiers ne devrait pas être mis en cause, selon un ex-enquêteur |access-date=26 May 2025 |agency=Journal de Montreal |date=7 April 2025}}