Cross in Middle West Pubnico to serve as memorial to Dziekanski and others

What he did was put together a steel cross in memory of Robert Dziekanski – the man whose death intensified the debate over the use of Tasers – and others who died after the device was used on them.

The cross is located on land d’Eon owns in Middle West Pubnico.

Interviewed at the site, he said quite a few people had contacted him about the cross and virtually all of them – he cited just one exception – had positive things to say.

Some, he said, recounted being moved to tears when they learned about it.

D’Eon, who lives in Pubnico Head but who grew up just a couple of houses past where the cross now stands, said he had trouble sleeping the night he saw the video of the Vancouver incident.

“I was watching the news and saw the video when it first came out on TV and it upset me,” he said.

Recalling how it made him feel, he cited various reactions, including shock, sadness, disgust and anger.

“I watched this man die and he died in agony,” he said. “I said to myself ‘you’ve got to do something.’”

D’Eon remembered the time 14 years ago when one of his daughters faced a serious medical situation and he talked about how he felt at that time.

“It’s the most helpless, desperate feeling I’ve ever felt in my life,” he recalled, “and I’m thinking…for that woman (Dziekanski’s mother) to lose her child in such a horrific way…”

So he went to work, painting and welding and putting up his cross as a memorial to Dziekanski and other victims of police Tasers.

The cross, which is lit up at night, weighs about 300 kilograms.

Near the cross d’Eon put up a sign on which he offers to Dziekanski’s mother condolences for her loss and an apology on behalf of Nova Scotians and Canadians.

While upset with what the police did with Dziekanski in Vancouver, d’Eon made a point of emphasizing that he does not want to paint police in general with the same brush.

“By far the majority of police are good people,” he said.

As for Tasers, he said he doesn’t necessarily feel they should be banned, provided they are only used when the situation warrants it, which he notes clearly was not the case with Robert Dziekanski.

Meanwhile, it was only after the Dziekanski video first aired and d’Eon’s subsequent decision to put up the cross that he learned of the death of Howard Hyde, who died in custody 30 hours after being jolted by a police Taser in Metro.

D’Eon knew Hyde and said he was “a good guy” who happened to have a mental illness.