Woman says officer who accused her of assault kicked her during N.S. housing protest

A woman accused of assaulting police during a housing protest in Halifax has denied intentionally kicking two constables, saying she was avoiding "kicks and stomps" from landing on her.

Natasha Danais testified Wednesday during her trial on one charge of obstruction and three charges of assaulting police during the Aug. 18, 2021, protest.

The 26-year-old told Halifax provincial court Judge Kelly Serbu that when she went through a police line and landed on her back, she was fearful of the heavy-set Halifax officer she'd just been face-to-face with — Const. Chris DeLong.

She testified that the constable had earlier grabbed her by the throat and had kicked her at least three times.

"It wasn't the first time I'd ended up on the ground in front of him, and he'd been kicking and stomping on me and I assumed it was going to be the same thing," she testified.

She said she moved her legs in a bicycle motion as she lay on her back, "just trying to prevent myself from being hurt any more," as several officers arrested her and pulled her away.

At the time, municipal workers were attempting to remove a shelter for homeless people in front of the former Halifax public library, and Danais was among the demonstrators Halifax police were pushing out of the way.

Const. Conor Gillam testified Tuesday that Danais had pulled off his medical mask, and constables Brian Palmeter and DeLong told the court she kicked them while she was lying on her back after toppling through the police line.

In Tuesday's testimony, DeLong denied kicking Danais while he faced her on the line, testifying that he was raising his leg in self defence.

"If I had wanted to kick her it would have looked different than that," DeLong said under cross-examination.

Danais told the court she went to the protest shortly after 10:30 a.m. AT because she'd heard police would be at the sites of the homeless shelters as they were being torn down. She said it was upsetting to her because she believed the people living in the sheds had nowhere else to go.

"I felt it was important [to attend] as I had been homeless a few months prior," Danais said.

Danais was shown portions of a video prepared depicting the tense showdown between protesters and police, but had a different perspective on it from that of the officers who testified Tuesday.

"[DeLong] was kicking me, also pushed me by the throat. He was standing in front of me with a mask and not responding when I asked him for his name or badge number," she testified.