Dramatic video appears to show several Hamilton police officers brutally arresting an Indigenous man

Dozens of family members gathered in John Sopinka Courthouse in Hamilton today for Patrick Tomchuk’s bail hearing. A dramatic video was played that appears to show several Hamilton police officers hitting the Indigenous man until he is unconscious during an arrest.

“It honestly broke my heart and made me sick. Our whole family was crying,” Dhelia Baldwin, Tomchuk’s sister said.

Baldwin said the video showed her brother unconscious and said the officers continued to “stomp on his head.”

Tomchuk was arrested in May at a Hamilton Mountain gas station. He has been charged with assault, stealing vehicles, resisting arrest, and several breaches of court orders. None of those charges have been tried in court.

A bystander filmed the police brutally arresting Tomchuk.

In court, the judge described the video as showing officers “beating his head with hands and fists until he appears unconscious.” The judge added that any alleged assault by Tomchuk pales in comparison to aggression from officers.

After the arrest, Constable Brian Wren was also charged with assault. The family believes this was possible because of the video.

The lawyers involved say they cannot release the video because it is part of disclosure in the case but there isn’t a publication ban, so if the bystander who filmed it came forward, it could be shared.

The family would like to thank the bystander for the footage and are asking the woman to come forward. “It would help the case and not even just that, but the whole Indigenous community itself,” Baldwin said.

The judge said Tomchuk has a criminal record pages long but given the support he is receiving from his family, and the circumstances around his arrest, the judge said that granting bail was appropriate. Tomchuk will be under house arrest and in the care of two cousins.

The family is still pushing for an investigation into whether the actions of the officer charged constitute a hate crime.

Tomchuk will return to court in September.