VANCOUVER\u2014A man who urinated on the Komagata Maru memorial in Vancouver was not ticketed for his actions because he has a serious mental illness and drug addiction, the police chief says.<\/p>\n
Jim Chu said Thursday that when officers found the man with the help of a witness, they realized he has a serious mental disorder and drug addiction.<\/p>\n
Chu said the man has signed an apology note, which was written by a police officer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sorry for what I did that day at the monument,\u201d it said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to hurt anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man is known to police, and Chu said he likely did not recognize the significance of the memorial that was erected in Vancouver\u2019s Coal Harbour in 2012.<\/p>\n
It commemorates a dark chapter in Canadian history in 1914, when immigration officials refused to allow hundreds of Sikhs off the Kamagatu Maru. When the Japanese ship was forced to return to India, a riot broke out and 19 people were killed by police.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis suspect needs the health system, not the justice system,\u201d Chu told a news conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that it is not in anyone\u2019s interest to serve this suspect a bylaw ticket. We explained this to several\u00a0South Asian\u00a0community leaders last night and they supported this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The police department\u2019s Hate Crime Unit began investigating the incident in December after a photo of a man urinating on the Komagata Maru memorial had surfaced on the Internet.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, Vancouver police announced that they had identified and interviewed the suspect involved with the urinating incident, and that a bylaw ticket was not appropriate.<\/p>\n
They also said that while urinating in a public place can be a criminal offence in Canada under certain circumstances, that wasn\u2019t the case here.<\/p>\n
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said he supports the department\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe desecration and vandalism of the Komagata Maru monument was a disgusting and disgraceful act, but clearly performed by someone who had no idea what he was doing,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n
Sohan Deol, president of the Khalsa Diwan Society, said the local Sikh community was initially very upset about the incident. But they accept the man\u2019s apology and support police.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever he did, he apologized for,\u201d Deol said. \u201cI think the community … we should accept that (because of) the condition of that person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chu said the man, who lives in Vancouver\u2019s impoverished Downtown Eastside, will be referred to an outreach team that can help him with his mental illness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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