Spectators gather as the disciplinary hearing for Ottawa Police Service Detective Helen Grus continues in Stittsville near Ottawa on May 27, 2024. (Matthew Horwood/The Epoch Times)
OTTAWA—An Ottawa Police Service detective accused of discreditable conduct after probing the COVID-19 vaccination status of the mothers of deceased infants testified at her hearing that she was upholding her oath as an officer when conducting the investigations.
“My duty as a police officer is to preserve life and property, to preserve the peace. And if I see any one of those situations arising where I need to step in and preserve life, I will do something. And that’s what I did, in good faith, as a police officer,” Constable Helen Grus testified at the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) building in Stittsville on May 27.
Const. Grus, a detective with the OPS sexual assault and child abuse unit, is accused of discreditable conduct for conducting an “unauthorized project” between June 2020 and January 2022 by looking into the sudden deaths of nine infants. Const. Grus is alleged to have accessed Ottawa police files and then contacted the coroner’s office to learn the COVID-19 vaccination status of the parents, as she believed there could be an association between the two.
On Jan. 30, 2022, Const. Grus also allegedly contacted the father of a deceased infant to inquire into the COVID-19 vaccination status of its mother, without the knowledge of the lead detective. While Const. Grus was suspended without pay from the OPS on Feb. 4, 2022, she was ordered to return to work with restrictions during an Oct. 11, 2022, OPS internal hearing.
During her testimony on May 27, Const. Grus said she had been concerned after being informed of a “doubling if not tripling of baby deaths” that happened after the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. Const. Grus said two detectives had also told her of incidents where “fully alert and healthy babies” had suddenly died in their mothers’ arms.
“That concerned me. [In] 20-plus years of policing, I’ve never seen that phenomenon,” Const. Grus said.
According to a report by the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, mRNA from COVID-19 vaccines has been found in human breast milk. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) also contains data that shows serious side effects and deaths in breastfed babies whose mothers recently received COVID-19 vaccinations.
Const. Grus also testified that when investigating the link between the COVID-19 vaccines and infant deaths, she was standing by Peel’s Principles, a set of ethical guidelines for policing by Sir Robert Peel back in 1829. The fifth principle, which Const. Grus cited, states that police must “seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.”
Const. Grus said while COVID-19 vaccine mandates were coming into force and causing “division” within OPS, she felt it was important to investigate the infant deaths in an impartial manner and not “pander to public opinion.”
During her testimony, Const. Grus also read out a performance review she received in January 2024, which said she had “taken on a number of large and complex investigations” in the year prior and that she had either “fully met” or “met all and exceeded some expectations.”
“Receiving this meant a lot, because the nine months that I was off on suspension was tough on me,” an emotional Const. Grus testified. “So being brought back to the service, being able to serve the community, meant a lot.”
Various signs are displayed at the disciplinary hearing for Ottawa Police Service Detective Helen Grus in Stittsville near Ottawa on May 27, 2024. (Matthew Horwood/The Epoch Times)
Defence Accuses Prosecution of Intimidatiom
At the beginning of Const. Grus’s testimony, as she was being asked about her history in the OPS, prosecutor Jessica Barrow objected and said they were repeating content that had already been entered as evidence. “We have here a 48-page affidavit with an extensive number of issues covered … to spend a considerable amount of the tribunal’s time going through each and every one of the aspects of an affidavit—that’s already before you—has no utility,” she said.
Defence lawyer Bath-Sheba van den Berg responded that Const. Grus needed an opportunity to tell her story, and that stopping her testimony at portions covered in her affidavit would be “incredibly disruptive” and an “abuse of process.”
Hearing Officer Chris Renwick said there had been “too much repetition” throughout the tribunal, and said Const. Grus needed to give evidence that was relevant to the hearing. “I’d really like to get to the substance of it,” he said. “I find it difficult to control and I find it difficult to rule on, because I do not want to have any indication or pressure that I am limiting the scope of your case,” he said.
Ms. van den Berg said that the prosecution’s objection was a “gross miscarriage of justice” and “close to intimidating a justice participant.” While Mr. Renwick urged against repetitious testimony, he added he was “reluctant” to put limitations on Const. Grus’s testimony and wanted to achieve fairness.
Later on, while Const. Grus was testifying about a few Ottawa police officers who had developed heart issues after taking COVID-19 vaccines, she claimed to have received a “look” from a prosecution lawyer because she was addressing Ms. van Den Berg and not Mr. Renwick.
“Did you just get a look from the prosecutor? Well, I think it’s important, sir, that my witness is not badgered by the prosecutor by looks,” Ms. van Den Berg said to Mr. Renwick. “We may have to consider moving the table to a safer location where my client is not subjected to threatening looks by the prosecutor.”
Mr. Renwick said he would take care of any potential issues with body language, and that he did not want to get into “spiralling issues” that would cause further delays in the trial. Ms. Barrow called Ms. van den Berg’s accusations “really inappropriate.”
Nearly 30 people came to support Const. Grus at the police headquarters, but due to the size of the room, only 23 were allowed to watch her testify. At the end of the last hearing in March, Mr. Renwick had said he would work with the OPS to attempt to secure a larger venue or allow more members of the public to view the proceedings.
While the OPS had signalled the hearing would be moved to the San Marco Event & Conference Centre in Ottawa and be broadcast online for the public, neither of those options occurred. The OPS told The Epoch Times in an email statement that it was unable to successfully create a virtual broadcast, but did not say why a larger venue had not been secured.