Labrador man denied long-sought hearing about his detainment for a tweet

A Labrador man has lost his bid for a long-sought public hearing about his detainment by police in 2015 at a mental health hospital for a post he made on social media.

A ruling dated Thursday by an adjudicator with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary’s Public Complaints Commission says a public hearing would be “desirable,” but Andrew Abbass did not file his complaint soon enough against retired Sgt. Tim Buckle.

Abbass said in an interview that he is frustrated by chief adjudicator John Whalen’s conclusion, but he hopes there will be an appeal.

Whalen’s decision says Abbass was detained by members of the force in April 2015 and kept for six days at a hospital, allegedly because of tweets he wrote in response to the fatal shooting by police of Donald Dunphy that month in St. Mary’s Bay, N.L.

Abbass said he did not file a complaint right away because he did not understand the circumstances of his arrest until a public inquiry into Dunphy’s death revealed that Buckle and another officer texted about Abbass’s arrest and referred to him as a “loser.”

In an interview today, Buckle said he has testified publicly that the text exchange was inappropriate, and he said he consulted with his superiors about detaining Abbass and they expressed no opposition.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.