A Black man was left frustrated and angry with Canadian police after calling to report an assault and they refused to bring charges.
In a series of August 30 videos that are circulating online, police repeatedly dismiss Dhextrus’ complaints, citing insufficient evidence. But viewers say the explanation doesn’t add up.
At least four officers in tactical gear responded to Dhextrus’ call to report an assault outside a convenience store gas station in Vancouver.
Minutes before, a woman had falsely accused Dhextrus of stealing her phone, and a South Asian man intervened and allegedly attacked Dhextrus, hitting his arm with such force that he later told officers on camera he had no feeling in it.
‘It’s an Allegation’
Once officers cleared up the phone theft allegation, Dhextrus asked them to charge the man with assault. According to the video, they refused, citing a lack of video evidence.
“So my word doesn’t count?” he asked.
“It doesn’t count for evidence, no. It would count as backing if we had some video evidence of it, for sure,” the supervising officer responded. “But we don’t…so it’s an allegation.”
When Dhextrus asked officers to pull security footage from nearby businesses, they declined.
The officer then told Dhextrus that police were relying on the word of “third-party witnesses” who said the assault didn’t happen, a detail that drew criticism in the comments.
Under Canadian law, private citizens never press charges, and video isn’t a legal prerequisite, a standard normally met through witness testimony alone.
‘It’s Not Fair’
As one viewer put it: “He literally said your word doesn’t count as evidence, but then goes on to rely on third parties saying you weren’t assaulted…If your account is dismissed because it’s ‘just your word,’ then why should their accounts be treated differently?”
Dhextrus believes the answer to that question comes down to race. “I feel this is very unfair and it’s because I am a Black person,” he told the officer on camera, “I know it, if I was a white person, you guys would press charges…. I know that for a fact. If I were an Indian or a white person, it wouldn’t be the way it’s going now.”
The officer’s response offered no reassurance: “So I just got yelled at by another Black person and a South Asian person,” he said.
“I’m not yelling, I’m just upset,” Dhextrus responded. “It’s not fair. This is not fair.”
Viewers are waiting for Dhextrus to follow up after urging him to file a police report and request security footage.
The interaction reflects a pattern Black Americans often describe in encounters with U.S. police: officers treating a Black man’s account as less credible while leaning on other testimony to reach the opposite conclusion. For many viewers, the exchange echoed a debate that has played out for years in the United States, over whose word police treat as credible, and why.
