The Montreal police are facing questions about the conduct of an officer in light of a widely circulated video on social media showing an innocent man detained after being accused of stealing his own car and having his hands tied after the key was misplaced. His office said in a statement on Saturday that Quebec's Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, is now investigating the incident. The minister's spokesperson also stated in an email to CTV News: "The video being circulated raises questions, we are very sensitive to the comments being shared and we will carry out the necessary verification with the SPVM so they can shed light on the context surrounding the events that were filmed."

The video, which shows part of the police interaction, also showed a man and two plainclothes police officers standing in a parking lot next to the car. The man, whose hands were tied behind his back, demanded the police explain why he was stopped. "Is this because I’m Black?" the man asked, more than once, repeatedly asserting that the car belonged to him. The plainclothes officer replied, "No, absolutely not," "Then what is it?" the restrained man continued: "The car I bought, you say it looks like a stolen car... this is very humiliating."

Montreal police wrote on social media on Friday that they were aware of a video of police interaction circulating online and that the force had "immediately" looked into the officers' conduct. The police also stated: "Yesterday afternoon, two expert investigators in car theft noticed a Honda CRV SUV parked in a shopping center parking lot and the unoccupied car showed typical and clear signs of an attempted theft on one of the locks. The post said, "Before they could complete their inspection, a citizen approached to retrieve it. He was then temporarily detained for investigation... and the citizen was released unconditionally and without charges once the checks were completed." But before his release, it appeared the officers could not remove the handcuffs because they did not have the key. The officers repeated that they were waiting for the key to be delivered.

It was an "embarrassing moment" for the police, according to Alain Papineau, a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer and current director of racial profiling and public safety issues at the Red Coalition, an advocacy group against racial profiling. Papineau added, "Professionally, this is very embarrassing, I can tell you, these things have happened in my career, not necessarily to me, but with other officers. I want police officers to do their best, and they do most of the time. But, I believe in this whole encounter, there are many questions about the professionalism shown by the officers." When other officers arrived, the man's restraints were removed and he was released. Papineau says it is hard to tell from the video whether the methods used by the police were inappropriate. However, he said people should carefully look at interactions between police and people of different skin tones, especially when that person is considered a suspect, "because the reality of racial profiling is well documented across Canada."