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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.