B.C. nursing student dragged, stepped on by RCMP officer rallies among supporting protesters

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A B.C. nursing student who says an RCMP officer assaulted her during a wellness check says she’s amazed by the support she’s experienced since going public about the incident.

On Saturday, thousands of people took part in rallies all throughout the province to call for an end to police brutality, after surveillance video came to light, showing Mona Wang be dragged and stepped on by a Mountie during a wellness check in January.

“Having a lot of people come out said the same thing, you know, it’s very disheartening to hear,” Wang told reporters before the rally in Vancouver. “But also, it’s kind of lit the fire under me like now knowing how often this happens, I just want… to be that I want to change to happen so it doesn’t happen again.”

The “Justice For Mona” protests took place in Kelowna, Surrey, Richmond and Vancouver. A rally was also held last weekend in Calgary.

At the Vancouver rally, Wang’s roommate spoke to the crowd, describing what she remembers about the wellness check. Shayla Raine said she ended her kickboxing class to find numerous texts about what was happening at her apartment.

“Opening the elevator door and just seeing the trail of pill debris and blood leading up to my suite, that was one of the most scariest moments of my life,” she said.

Raine said their apartment at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus looked like a crime scene after the incident.

In Wang’s lawsuit, she claims she “suffered injury to her face, upper thigh, abrasion over the right breast, bruising over the sternum and bruising over the forearms” during the incident.

Wang says a toxicology report showed no illegal substances in her system, while police say they don’t have access to that report.

Wang’s lawsuit is against RCMP Corporal Lacey Browning as well as the Attorney General of Canada, and British Columbia’s Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

While Browning has been placed on desk duty, an online petition in support of Wang, which calls for the officer to be charged and fired, has garnered more than 370,000 signatures.

In a legal response to Wang’s suit, the RCMP say Browning used no more force than necessary to keep Wang and herself safe.

In her defense, Browning alleges Wang had a box cutter and had harmed herself, appeared intoxicated and became violent, striking the officer “several times” with an open hand.