Trans Twitch star files human rights complaint against police after swatting arrest in London, Ont. – CBC News [2023-04-24]

2023-04-242023-04-24 — 2SLGBTQ+, Police — 1 min read

A transgender activist arrested at gunpoint in her London, Ont. home in a swatting hoax has launched a human rights complaint against the local police for discriminating against her based on her gender identity and expression.

Clara Sorrenti is asking the London Police Service (LPS) to change its record management, procedures, and policies to accommodate transgender people, including wearing body cameras when interacting with them. She also wants mandatory human rights training for every officer that emphasises interacting with trans people.

“LPS hasn’t done nearly enough to start addressing the systemic issues that led to the encounter last year that left me in significant emotional and mental distress,” Sorrenti said.

In a statement of claim filed to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on April 10, Sorrenti is seeking $75,000 in damages for injury to her dignity, feelings, and self respect, plus an additional $50,000 for loss of income and other special damages incurred as a result of the swatting incident.

London police declined Sunday to comment on the matter.

London and Middlesex Community Housing rep quits over cockroach issues – CBC News [2023-04-24]

2023-04-242023-04-24 — Housing — 1 min read

A tenant representative on the London and Middlesex Community Housing (LMCH) board has quit, saying not enough is being done to deal with bed bug and cockroach problems in the building where she lives.

Tammy Brooks, 43, has lived at 304 Oxford St. for seven years and served as a tenant representative on LMCH’s board for two years.

This week she submitted her resignation, saying the board needs to develop a more coordinated, pro-active approach to bug spraying in the 32 properties they manage.

“I think they need to go floor-by-floor and unit-by-unit,” said Brooks, whose apartment received an initial spraying last week. “But if they don’t treat the other units, it’s just going to keep continuing to come back. They need to inspect units, they need to do assessments.”

More mental health resources needed in remote First Nations, jury hears during Moses Beaver inquest – CBC News [2023-04-24]

2023-04-242023-04-24 — Indigenous, Police — 1 min read

Calls to improve mental health care resources in remote First Nations in northwestern Ontario continue to be at the forefront of the inquest into the death of Moses Amik Beaver.

The 56-year-old Woodlands artist from Nibinamik, an Oji-Cree First Nation, died in Thunder Bay, Ont. in February 2017 after he was found unresponsive in his cell in the Thunder Bay District Jail.

It remains unclear exactly how Beaver died; the jury is expected to hear more on Beaver’s official cause of death in the coming weeks.

More than six years later, an inquest into his death – which is mandatory under the Ontario Coroner’s Act when a person dies in custody – has started putting together the pieces of how and why Beaver came to his death.

The jury consists of one white man, three white women and one Indigenous woman.

Beaver is one of 13 people who have died in the Thunder Bay District Jail since 2002. His inquest comes on the heels of an inquest completed in November into the deaths of Don Mamakwa of Kasabonika Lake and Roland McKay of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug.

Tim Hicks – What a Song Should Do

2023-04-242023-04-24 — Music — 1 min read

Doxxed Twitch streamer, trans activist files human rights complaint against London, Ont. police – Global News [2023-04-23]

2023-04-232023-04-23 — 2SLGBTQ+, Police — 1 min read

A popular Twitch streamer and transgender activist has filed a human rights complaint against London, Ont., police, months after a swatting incident.

On Aug. 5, 2022, Clara Sorrenti, known as Keffals on Twitch, was at the centre of a swatting attack after being doxxed by harassers who sent false death threats with her name and address to London city councillors, leading to her being arrested at gunpoint.

Swatting refers to a false report made to police that intends to lure a large number of officers to a particular location, often with the intention of targeting specific individuals.

A statement by Sorrenti’s lawyer Justin W. Anisman states she has filed a human rights application against the London Police Services (LPS) and the London Police Services Board, “based on the discrimination Ms. Sorrenti experienced due to her gender identity and gender expression, which is contrary to section 1 of the Ontario Human Rights Code.”