Man alleges Winnipeg police working security at Superstore made racially offensive comments, assaulted him

A Winnipeg man is suing the city and the grocery chain Loblaws over an incident two years ago, where he alleges Winnipeg police officers hired to work security for one of the company's stores made racially offensive comments and assaulted him as he was leaving.

Anthony Branko Bris now lives with "lasting physical and psychological injuries," including diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and ongoing headaches and neck pain, according to a statement of claim filed in Court of King's Bench on June 4 of this year.

Bris alleges police accused him of stealing and made "racially offensive" comments before they attacked him on June 11, 2022, on Gateway Road while he exited a Real Canadian Superstore, which is owned by Loblaws.

The company, the City of Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Police Service are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims Bris was on his way out of the store shortly before 10 p.m. while holding a pack of paper towels that he purchased, when he passed by two armed and uniformed Winnipeg police officers working security.

"One of them made a comment to him which the plaintiff found to be racially offensive," the lawsuit reads.

When Bris took his phone out to photograph the officers, an encounter ensued during which he "was struck, violently taken to the ground, and physically restrained," the lawsuit states.

While the lawsuit alleges police made racially offensive comments, it doesn't specify what the nature of those comments were. 

Bris's lawyer, Karl Gowenlock, said he plans to file an amended version of the lawsuit with more information in the coming weeks.

He confirmed to CBC News that Bris is not Indigenous, though the alleged comments from police suggested they thought he was.

Gowenlock also relayed a more detailed account of what Bris says happened that day than what is included in the statement of claim.

Pinned to ground, choked: lawyer

Bris said a family member he lives with was at the grocer earlier in the day. The family member finished paying for items at the self-checkout and continued on past the till, but had "inadvertently missed scanning a pack of paper towels," Gowenlock said in an email statement.

Police stopped the family member and pointed out the missed item. The family member wasn't allowed to pay for the paper towels, according to Gowenlock's statement, and so left the store without them.

Bris went back later that evening to buy a pack of paper towels, and that's when his encounter with police occurred.

He said he paid for the paper towels at the self-checkout. As he walked by the two officers, one asked if he was stealing, and said "we know what you people like to do," according to the emailed statement.

Bris maintains he pulled out his phone to take photos of the officers, but one of them hit his phone out of his hand. He was knocked down and police "started choking him while pinning him to the ground," the emailed statement reads.

Bris said he managed to start recording video briefly while on the ground, but one of the officers stopped the recording and began "stomping on the screen." He says he lost consciousness at least once during the encounter.

"At one point while on the ground Mr. Bris was pleading 'I can't breathe,' [and] one officer responded by saying 'that's your problem,' and 'if you can talk you can … [breathe], so shut the f--k up,' and continued to pin him down by the neck," the emailed statement said.

That statement goes on to say the officers pulled Bris out from the vestibule area of the store and the altercation continued outside "with strikes from knees and elbows."

Bris maintains the officers said, "That's what you get for being a tough guy trying to take pictures. You can do that shit on the reserve, not here," according to the email from his lawyer. An officer threatened to go to Bris's home and "put a bullet to … [his] head," the statement alleges.

The lawsuit says the incident lasted several minutes before Bris was allowed to get up.

He wasn't handcuffed, or told he was under arrest or being detained, according to the lawsuit. Bris also maintains he never tried to hit, push or move toward the officers.

His suit is seeking unspecified damages, including general damages and aggravated/punitive damages.

None of the allegations have been tested in court. It isn't clear whether any statements of defence have been filed.

The Winnipeg Police Service declined to comment on the case. Loblaws did not respond to a CBC News request for comment prior to publication.