The public should expect politicians to support their right to bail and to be presumed innocent, the office of Canada’s justice minister says, warning that “immediate” and “uninformed reactions” only worsens matters.
A jury on Sunday found Umar Zameer not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of a Toronto police officer who was run over in an underground parking garage in July 2021.
While prosecutors in the high-profile trial alleged Zameer chose to drive dangerously with Const. Jeffrey Northrup and his partner, both plainclothes officers, nearby, his defence said he didn’t know they were police and felt his family was in danger when two strangers ran up to his vehicle.
A spokesperson for Justice Minister Arif Virani says the office knows the circumstances surrounding Northrup’s death have inflicted “deep wounds” on everybody involved.
The minister’s office says it extends its condolences to Northrup’s family and also recognizes the “emotional turmoil” that Zameer and his family had to …