Suspended senator Patrick Brazeau charged with assault, cocaine
possession, uttering death threats after early morning arrest
Josh Visser
|
April 10, 2014 7:30 AM ET
pic 1
Patrick Brazeau's belongings, including
what looks like a bag of marijuana, were thrown outside the home of an
alleged assault.
pic 2
Suspended senator Patrick Brazeau has been charged with two counts of
assault, uttering death threats, cocaine possession and breach of bail
conditions after his arrest in Gatineau early Thursday morning after a
domestic disturbance call.
Pictures on social media showed many of his belongings thrown in the
rubbish outside a home in the latest humiliation of a man who once was
considered a rising political star.
Brazeau, dressed in a green shirt, black jacket and pants, was
escorted to the Gatineau Court House in handcuffs Thursday morning.
While police initially said Brazeau, 39, was arrested, they later
said they would not identify the man until he was formally charged.
pic 3
Patrick Brazeau is escorted into the
Gatineau Court House in Gatineau, Quebec on Thursday, April 10, 2014.
Gatineau police spokesman Pierre Lanthier told The Canadian Press
that a 39-year-old man was arrested after a 911 phone call about a
domestic incident just before 4 a.m.
“It was an altercation between a man and a woman,” he said.
In an earlier media release, Gatineau police said they were called to
a residence on Labrosse Boulevard for a domestic disturbance. When
police arrived they found a man and woman in a physical altercation on
the porch of the home and they arrested the man for an assault on the
woman.
Police also said a male friend of the woman inside of the home was
threatened by the arrested man. Police said they found a small amount of
a “white powder” that could be cocaine on the accused.
The man inside the home is also facing an assault charge, allegedly
for an attack on the other arrested man,
the CBC is reporting.
pic 4
pic 5
A number of reporters took photos outside of the home where the
alleged assault took place, where it appeared Brazeau’s belongings had
been thrown out.
pic 6
Pieces
of Patrick Brazeau's life strewn on the snow outside a home in Gatineau
he once shared with a girl
pic 7 &
8
Scene
outside suspended Sen. Patrick Brazeau's Gatineau home. Photo via
@Mul77
In February, the RCMP charged Brazeau with one count each of breach
of trust and fraud over their spending of taxpayers’ dollars.
A former national chief with the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples,
Brazeau was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in
January 2009, along with fellow now-suspended senators, Mike Duffy and
Pamela Wallin. Brazeau was the youngest senator ever to have been
appointed to the Red Chamber.
Brazeau was arrested, charged with assault and sexual assault, and
subsequently kicked out of the Conservative caucus last February in
relation to a domestic assault at his home. Court documents say the
alleged victim claimed Brazeau pushed her violently, grabbed her breasts
aggressively and ripped her clothing.
Brazeau has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Court documents released in August last year said the RCMP alleged
that Brazeau claimed a $22,000 per year housing allowance from the
Senate after declaring a home he didn’t own as his primary residence.
He was suspended without pay alongside with Wallin and Duffy in
November.
Recently, Brazeau had found employment as a
manager at well-known Ottawa strip club, Barefax.
With files from Postmedia News and The Canadian Press
HL:Anatomy of a scandal: key developments in the Patrick Brazeau
saga
OTTAWA — Suspended senator Patrick Brazeau is in more legal
difficulties after police charged him with assault, uttering
threats, cocaine possession and breach of bail conditions. The
charges followed what police in Gatineau, Que., say was a domestic
violence incident in the early hours of Thursday morning. Here is a
timeline of Brazeau’s troubled time in politics:
Dec. 22, 2008: Prime Minister Stephen Harper appoints Brazeau to
the Senate.
March 31, 2012: Brazeau loses a ballyhooed charity boxing match
against Justin Trudeau after the referee called the fight in the
middle of the third round.
Nov. 21, 2012: A Senate committee is asked to examine housing
allowances Brazeau claimed for a home in Maniwaki, Que., despite
appearing to live full-time in another residence within a
100-kilometre radius of Ottawa.
Feb. 7, 2013: Brazeau is arrested after a 911 call from his
residence.
Feb. 8, 2013: After a night in jail, Brazeau is charged with
assault and sexual assault and released on bail. Meanwhile, the
Senate hires external auditing firm to review Brazeau’s expense
claims, as well as those of senators Mike Duffy and Mac Harb.
Feb. 28, 2013: Senate audit fails to turn up any questionable
housing allowance claims beyond those of Brazeau, Harb and Duffy.
May 9, 2013: The Senate releases a report into housing claims,
along with a Deloitte audit. Deloitte says the three senators live
in Ottawa area, but that the rules and guidelines are unclear,
making it difficult to say categorically that anyone broke the
rules. Harb and Brazeau are ordered to repay $51,000 and $48,000,
respectively. Harb says he will fight the ruling. Duffy earlier
repaid disputed amounts with money he got from Harper’s then chief
of staff Nigel Wright.
May 12, 2013: RCMP says it will examine Senate expense claims.
May 14, 2013: Brazeau says he also broke no rules and is
exploring all options to overturn an order to pay the money back.
May 16, 2013: Duffy resigns from Conservative caucus.
May 17, 2013: Sen. Pamela Wallin also announces she’s leaving the
Conservative caucus. Her travel expenses, which totalled more than
$321,000 since September 2010, have been the subject of an external
audit since December.
June 13, 2013: Brazeau and Harb are given 30 days to reimburse
taxpayers for their disallowed living expenses — bills that together
total more than $280,000.
Aug. 26, 2013: Harb, who had earlier left the Liberals to sit as
an independent, resigns from the upper chamber. He also drops a
lawsuit and pledges to repay his questioned expense claims.
Oct. 17, 2013: Claude Carignan, the government leader in the
Senate, introduces motions to suspend Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin. The
motions call for the three to be stripped of their pay, benefits and
Senate resources.
Oct. 25, 2013: Brazeau says Carignan offered him “a backroom
deal”: apologize publicly for his actions in exchange for a lighter
punishment. Carignan acknowledges the conversation but described the
offer as one made out of “friendship.”
Oct. 30, 2013: Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella rules that an attempt
to cut off debate on motions to suspend the trio is out of order.
This delays again the effort to suspend them.
Nov. 4, 2013: Brazeau addresses the Senate chamber for what he
acknowledges could be the last time, making an emotional appeal for
senators to reconsider his case. At one point, he addresses his
children: “It is very important that you understand that I am not
guilty of what some of these people are accusing me of. … I am not a
thief, a scammer, a drunken Indian, a drug addict, a failed
experiment or a human tragedy.”
Nov. 5, 2013: Senators vote to suspend Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin
without pay — but with health, dental and life insurance benefits
intact — for the remainder of the parliamentary session, which could
last two years.
Feb. 4, 2014: The RCMP lay charges of fraud and breach of trust
against Harb and Brazeau.
February, 2014: Brazeau takes a job as day manager at an Ottawa
strip club.
April 10, 2014: Gatineau police arrest Brazeau after a 4 a.m.
domestic violence call. He is charged with assault, possession of
drugs, breach of bail conditions and uttering threats.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Source
Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre
It
appears that Government failed to give Brazeau a presumption of
innocence
in the
sort of case in which charges result from a "she said" and when a "he
said" means very little in Canadian Law
due to
the fact that Canada applies Male Sharia Law.
The
photo's show that someone at that house wanted to be extremely damaging
and nasty to Brazeau.
These
sorts of actions are commonly associated with false allegations of
domestic violence which are a
problem
that faces most jurisdictions across Canada.
|