Transgender activist 'shocked' London Police admit mistakes during alleged swatting but don’t apologize
London Police now admit they used the wrong name and gender when questioning a prominent transgender activist last week-but stopped short of making an apology.
On August 5, transgender activist and popular streamer on the website Twitch, Clara Sorrenti, was awakened at her downtown residence by heavily armed police who arrested her at gunpoint and seized computer equipment.
She believes it was an incident of 'swatting'.
Sorrenti believes someone impersonating her online emailed a false threat to city hall with the intent of drawing a dangerous police response to her home.
After being questioned by investigators she was released without being charged.
As a transgender woman, Sorrenti says the terrifying incident was made worse by officers who used her birth name (also called a 'dead name') during the incident, rather than her legal name.
Transgender activist and Twitch streamer, Clara Sorrenti is seen in this undated file image. (File) On Wednesday, Police Chief Steve Williams declined to be interviewed about how officers treated Sorrenti, instead issuing a statement, "It has come to my attention that Ms. Sorrenti was referred to during her time in London police custody by an incorrect name and gender.
We acknowledge the distress this has caused Ms. Sorrenti and we will be reviewing the occurrence to understand how that might have happened."
It was CTV News that notified Sorrenti about the chief’s admission that mistakes were made.
"Actually you were the first to make me aware of the statement," she explained outside the police station after retrieving computers and a cell phone that had been held by investigators.
Not included in Chief Williams’ statement was a direct apology, something that still bothers Sorrenti, "I think it’s obvious to everyone that this wasn’t okay. I’m quite frankly shocked they haven’t issued an apology for what they did."
London’s first openly gay city councillor Shawn Lewis says after many steps forward building trust between the LGBTQ2+ Community and London Police— the use of an incorrect name and gender is a step backwards.
"We have to get it right when these situations happen, because it does undermine the confidence of the community when this sort of incident happens, and it hurts an individual," Lewis explains.
He’s concerned there may be a gap between diversity training and real world behaviour, "There’s work to be done, there’s a difference between training and implementation."
Chief Williams’s statement commits that London Police will learn and do better after "falling short sometimes."
Sorrenti believes the extent of the humiliation she felt must be better understood.
"When you are using someone’s dead name, you are telling them that you don’t respect them as a human being. That you don’t respect their autonomy."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Storage shed or shipping container? B.C. Supreme Court settles long-running bylaw dispute
A long-running dispute over whether a structure on a Surrey property violates a city bylaw that prohibits shipping containers on residential lots has been settled by the B.C. Supreme Court