A police intervention in the Flemish municipality of Asse, just outside of Brussels, on 5 August left three officers and a civilian injured, after an incident that started on a De Lijn bus and ended in a confrontation outside a family home.
Footage of the intervention shared on social media shows several police officers trying to restrain a woman. The video, initially shared by SOS Violence Raciste, shows the woman with blood on her face, handcuffed, and police trying to push her inside the police vehicle.
Brenda Odimba, who is the spokesperson for the family and the founder of SOS Violence Raciste, told The Brussels Times that the use of disproportionate force was unnecessary and says the intervention was racially motivated.
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According to the Halle-Vilvoorde prosecutor's office, officers were first called to a De Lijn bus about a man who was reportedly drunk and causing trouble on board. Rather than arresting him, police offered to take him home.
Once they arrived at the house, the man, Jonathan, 29, suddenly became aggressive towards the officers, the prosecutor said.
His 53-year-old mother and his younger sister Dettyne, 27, then came outside and also turned against the police team, according to the prosecutor's version of events.
Things then escalated, and officers had to call for backup from another police zone. Three officers were injured during the confrontation, as was Jonathan's mother, the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor initially ordered Jonathan, his mother and his sister to be arrested on suspicion of resisting police and assaulting and injuring officers. They were also supposed to be questioned straight away.
However, the police zone already had its hands full with a murder investigation that same night. After discussions with the prosecutor, it was decided to let the three leave and call them in for questioning at a later date.
At the time the prosecutor's office spoke to The Brussels Times, they said they were not aware of any complaint having been filed against the police.
Family tells a different story
Brenda Odimba told The Brussels Times that Jonathan and a friend had been asked to get off the De Lijn bus because they were making too much noise. She said Jonathan does not speak Dutch and, according to his account, did not understand what police were saying to him.
Odimba also questioned the prosecutor's description of Jonathan as drunk. She said Jonathan did not take an alcohol test, although she was still checking this with the family.
According to the family's account, relayed by Odimba, Jonathan remained calm when police brought him home. It was then, she alleges, that officers began hitting him.
"He maintains that he was calm and that there was no problem," Odimba said. She described the force used against Jonathan as "completely disproportionate", saying he was unarmed and did not pose a threat to the officers.
The Brussels Times has obtained other videos filmed by witnesses during the intervention. The footage shows parts of the confrontation, but not the whole sequence of events or what happened immediately before force was used.
Pictures provided to The Brussels Times also show visible bruising on Jonathan and his mother following the incident.
Odimba said several neighbours saw what happened and could give evidence about the intervention.
Picture of Jonathan's arms shared with The Brussels Times by SOS Raciste Violence. Credit: Handout.
Pictures of Bruises on the woman's face. Credit: Handout by the family.
Police reject racism allegation
SOS Violence Raciste considers the intervention to have been racially motivated. Odimba told The Brussels Times that, as far as she knows, no explicitly racist remarks were made.
Instead, she said the allegation is based on what the organisation sees as disproportionate force used against Jonathan and his family.
She referred to the "Big Black Man Syndrome", a term used to describe a stereotype in which black men are seen as physically larger or more threatening, which she argues can lead to excessive force being used against them.
Police strongly reject that interpretation. "There is really no racist reason; it was just a very sad incident," Fred Scrayen, spokesperson of the Flemish Brabant AMOW police zone, told The Brussels Times.
Scrayen stressed that officers had initially tried to help Jonathan by taking him home. "Our colleagues wanted to do him a favour, and it completely went wrong," Scrayen said.
The police zone would not go into further detail about the intervention because a judicial investigation is underway, referring questions about the case to the Halle-Vilvoorde prosecutor.
Scrayen also said another police zone drew up the official report following the confrontation to keep the handling of the case neutral.
Complaint expected on Friday
The prosecutor confirmed that Jonathan's mother was injured during the confrontation. Odimba said the family was gathering medical documents to establish the extent of her injuries.
She disputes the prosecutor's account that the family attacked the officers and also contests the claim that Jonathan resisted police. SOS Raciste Violence also sent a letter to Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin (MR) and Asse's mayor Koen Van Elsen.
The family's lawyer, Jolan Goutier, confirmed to The Brussels Times that he intends to file a complaint against the police on Friday.
Odimba said the alleged racist nature of the intervention is expected to be raised as part of that complaint.
For now, the two sides tell very different stories about what happened outside the family's home. The complaint expected on Friday should shed more light on the family's allegations and the injuries they say they suffered.
The Brussels Times will update the story as more details emerge.
