This is the Story of Dalia Kafi, a Black Woman who was Assaulted by a Canadian Police Officer in 2017

The incident was caught on CCTV.

 

In the footage, Kafi is shown being thrown face-first to the ground while handcuffed and being arrested on December 13, 2017, for violating a curfew.

 

Where her face landed on the floor, blood gushed out and stained the tiles.

 

As soon as the other cops arrived on the scene, Constable Alex Dunn, the police officer who assaulted her, was spotted taking a walk backwards.

 

In May 2019, one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury was brought against the police officer.

 

According to the report Alex Dunn was found guilty in December 2020.

 

Dunn received a one-month prison term – he didn’t spend any time behind bars, and instead he was placed under 24-hour house arrest, which was also followed by house arrest with a curfew.

 

Now before the constable was punished, Dalia Kafi had already died.

 

According to a friend she overdosed on drugs and died in June 2021.

 

Kafi was a single mother of a young boy and a really good person with a great attitude.

A friend of Dalia Kafi, Taylor McNallie, commemorated the anniversary of her release on August 13th, 2022, one year after she was detained for demonstrating in the courthouse following Kafi’s assault.

 

“Today marks one year since I was arrested outside of the courthouse after 13 days of protesting over the assault of Dalia Kafi by Calgary Police officer Alex Dunn.

Alex is still employed.
Dalia has since passed.
And I have a 5-day trial for 7 charges.”

 

Recently, Dalia Kafi’s video regained popularity as several people criticized the government for the fact that the police officer who assaulted her did not receive a jail sentence.

 

“The Canadian racist extremist cop Alex Dunn got a one month sentence and victim Dalia Kafi has since passed away..this is life of black people where white are in majority, black people are still subhumans. Here at home we were pacified by Mandela and ANC #BlackLivesMatter ”

— ThabzAfrika🇿🇦🇱🇸🇷🇺 (@ThabzAfrikaa

 

In July 2021, as family prepared for private viewings ahead of a memorial service, Kafi’s sister Bearina said Kafi was adored by the family. She said her sister loved to cook, especially traditional Sudanese cuisine.

 

“She was a great person, a lovely sister to have in the family,” she said. “She was full of life.”

 

Bearina said Dalia didn’t speak about her assault too often because it was traumatic for her to relieve the incident.

 

“It was hard to talk about. But once in a while she would say something or bring it up and she started crying.”

 

“She wasn’t a whole person after that; she was different,” Bearina said. “We just supported her, we tried to lift her spirits.”

 

Despite their best efforts, Bearina said the family felt Dalia wasn’t the person they used to know after her assault.

 

“She’d get upset so quickly, she’d get frustrated and I’d get frustrated too,” Bearina said.

 

She said finding out she died was horrible, and that her father was the last person to hear Dalia’s voice.

“We were all shocked…It was hard.”

 

Bearina said the family then experienced further heartbreak when Dunn received his short one-month sentence.

 

Though she says she doesn’t have any ill will for Dunn, she now finds it hard to trust police and said she believes racial profiling and police brutality is still prevalent.

 

“I truly don’t have any hatred or anything for him,” she said of Dunn. “We, all as a community, we expect more from our police officers.”

“I know not all police officers are bad,” Bearina added. “But if I get stopped, like pulled over, by police… I don’t know… I should just run for my life.”

 

“How am I going to stop and be vulnerable? I don’t know what the police officer is going to do.”

 

In a statement, Calgary police said the service was deeply saddened to hear of Kafi’s death.

 

“Our thoughts continue to be with her son, family and friends,” police said. “We fully understand the anger and frustration from the community on this case and respect their rights to protest.”

 

“The assault on Dalia by Const. Alex Dunn has been, and continues to be, taken seriously by our service.”

 

“Const. Dunn’s conviction and sentencing is certainly not the end of this case. There is a potential for the sentence or conviction to be appealed, but once the criminal court process is complete, we will engage our internal disciplinary process.”

 

“The current Alberta Police Act requires that the Chief Constable send serious misconduct matters to a disciplinary hearing where a retired judge or retired senior police officer determines the officer’s culpability and imposes the discipline that is appropriate, up to and including dismissal.

 

“In a serious case like this, the chief does not have the lawful authority to impose discipline on his own initiative outside of this formal process.”

 

Dunn remains relieved from duty without pay and without his gun or badge.

 

“Given that the process for officer discipline is highly regulated and quasi-judicial in Alberta, it takes time to get through it,” police said.

 

“However, we are committed to seeing this case through and assure you that the length of the process is not an indication that the matter is not being taken seriously.”

– Tracy Naga

 

Moreso, in December 2022, Const. Alex Dunn lost his second bid to have his assault conviction overturned.

 

Dunn was handed a one-month sentence — half to be served under house arrest, half under a curfew — by provincial court Judge Michelle Christopher.

 

In November 2021, the defence appealed to the Court of King’s Bench, but a judge upheld his conviction. The judge ruled that even if the judge believed Dunn’s testimony, all that was needed to convict the officer was the video of the assault.

 

On Thursday, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Anne Kirker ruled Dunn cannot appeal his conviction to the province’s top court.

 

In handing down the one-month sentence, the trial judge found Dunn’s actions were not premeditated and said she did not find it necessary to separate him from society, calling the assault “an egregious mistake.”

 

In December 2017, Kafi, who was 26 years old, was arrested by Dunn for breaching her court-imposed curfew.

 

Dunn took Kafi to the arrest processing unit (APU), where he tried to remove a scarf from her head to take a photo.

 

After a brief struggle, Dunn threw the handcuffed woman to the ground.

 

In a video that was an exhibit at trial, Kafi’s head can be seen bouncing off the ground with a pool of blood quickly forming.

 

She appeared to be briefly unconscious.

 

Kafi was Black, and while there was no evidence presented at trial that the assault was motivated by racism, both the Crown and judge noted that given the current climate, an officer’s attack on a Black woman is harmful to the community.

 

With the criminal court process complete, an internal CPS investigation will take place.

 

If convicted of Police Act offences, Dunn could face discipline ranging from a reprimand to dismissal.