Message to the Community: Security Incident on Campus

Dear TMU Community,

Yesterday, the University became aware of a video on social media of an arrest made earlier in the afternoon by TMU Security outside a Dais Democracy Forum event at the George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre.

The video is unsettling and difficult to watch, and it understandably has raised questions and concerns from our community.

I am writing to reassure you that we are taking this matter very seriously. The actions taken are being thoroughly reviewed in accordance with TMU Community Safety and Security policies and protocols. The security officers involved, contracted by a third-party security organization, have been reassigned and will not return to campus duties pending the outcome of the review. 

We are still working to confirm the facts of what occurred. At this time, we can share that the person arrested was one of several individuals asked to leave the event by security due to disruptive behaviour, which appears to violate Dais’ Events Community Guidelines and (external link)  TMU’s Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct. No other arrests were made, and all others who were asked to leave did so peacefully and without incident. Toronto Police were called following the arrest and this is now a police matter.

There is no higher priority for the University than the safety of our community. Should the review of the incident find additional actions are warranted, we will not hesitate to take them.

We encourage anyone with information about the incident to contact Community Safety and Security or Toronto Police.

Saeed Zolfaghari

Vice President, Administration & Operations