Vecqueth Stephenson says he didn’t know what hit him when police slammed him on the ground, stood on his head and back and charged him with assaulting a peace officer.

With support from the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), Stephenson, 54, a blind, black Côte-des-Neiges resident, wants the charges dropped, and an inquiry held into whether racism played a part in his arrest in Nelson Mandela Park on May 24.