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Video Of Vancouver Transit Officers Beating Student With Baton Released

The incident occurred in 2011.

A video of a violent beating of a Vancouver student by two Transit Police officers has been released — five years after the incident occurred.

A University of British Columbia student was approached by the officers at the Rupert SkyTrain station in August 2011 after they suspected him of fare evasion, according to Global News.

The student, who said he wasn't taking the train, was given a ticket.

The officers thought he provided a fake name, according to CKNW, and tried to arrest him for obstruction.

When the student tried to flee, officers chased him and began beating him with their batons.

Watch the incident in the video embedded above.

CTV News reports one of the officers involved, Const. Edgardo Diaz-Rodriguez, pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm. He was sentenced to 12 months probation on June 24.

“One has to imagine that if any of us were at the SkyTrain station and took out batons and started to hit someone in this way that many times we would most likely be looking at jail time,” Josh Paterson, executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, told Global News.

Diaz-Rodriguez was moved to administrative duties and receives an annual salary of around $90,000. The other officer involved in the incident, Michael Hughes, left the force the year after the attack.

The victim, a former UBC football player, said in a statement he could feel the strikes of the baton on his body like "the thud of a drum," according to CTV News.

"Looking down at my feet trying to protect my face I saw lots of blood pour from out my head. That instant I became fearful of my life," he said.

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