TPS chief says he accepts verdict in Zameer trial

After initially stating that he was "hoping for a different outcome" after Umar Zameer's acquittal, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said Tuesday that he accepts the jury's verdict — though one city councillor says the chief should still apologize to the public for his comments.

Speaking at an unrelated news conference Tuesday morning, Demkiw again clarified the statement he made after the jury returned with a not guilty verdict in the trial examining the death of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup nearly three years ago.

"In my career, I have always been a supporter of the justice process, including all elements of the system that leads us toward justice," Demkiw said. "And while we all see closure in many different ways and as elusive as closure can be, sometimes in a court process, closure is something that we certainly look for. But as I said yesterday … closure does not come at the expense of justice.

"Let me be crystal clear — I support and accept the verdict of the jury."

But Coun. Jon Burnside, a former member of the city's police services board and former police officer himself, said the chief needs to fully apologize for his initial statement on Sunday, where he said he shared "the feelings of our members who were hoping for a different outcome."

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Speaking on CBC Radio's Metro Morning Tuesday, Burnside said he fully supports Demkiw, and called him the best chief the city has had in 40 years.

"That said, I was very disappointed and surprised by his statement, and perplexed, really," Burnside said. "I didn't hear anyone, even in the police community, who thought Mr. Zameer would be found guilty."

With that in mind, it would be helpful if Demkiw apologized, Burnside said.

"All he has to say is, 'It was an emotional time … I'm sorry, I misspoke — the words I expressed were the wrong words, given this situation,' and I think people would accept that," he said.

On Sunday, a jury found Zameer, 34, not guilty of all criminal charges connected to Northrup's death in 2021. Zameer had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder after he ran over Northrup with his car in an underground parking garage beneath Toronto city hall.

Both Northrup and his partner were in plain clothes, investigating a stabbing that night. Zameer testified he didn't know Northrup and his partner were police, instead believing his family was being ambushed by criminals. An online crowdfunding campaign started to help Zameer pay his legal bills passed the $200,000 mark Tuesday afternoon.

The trial's judge, Justice Anne Molloy, apologized to Zameer for all that he had been through during the last three years — something one legal expert noted as significant and unusual.

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