Colin Grey died after routine border check — now the coverup kicks in

Less than one minute after being released from the police station, Colin Grey collapsed, raising questions about his treatment by authorities.

You may recall our story last month regarding Colin Grey, 63, of Windsor, Ont. Colin was returning home from Detroit, and what was supposed to be a routine border crossing resulted in his death. In the aftermath, the question arises: did Colin perish due law enforcement incompetence or maliciousness or perhaps both?

Here are the details: Colin and his son, Christian, were driving home from Detroit to Windsor. They had just dropped off Colin’s wife and Christian’s mother, Rose Grey, at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Rose was catching a flight to Seattle.

But a routine border check at the Ambassador Bridge proved to be anything but routine. A Canada Border Services Agency official, Ms. Groulx (badge #61475), appears to have mistakenly thought that Colin was impaired. Colin might have seemed confused and demonstrating a lack of coordination at the time. But Christian says that Groulx’s assessment that Colin was inebriated was dead wrong. He says his father Colin was not drunk; rather, he was in desperate need of his medication. And this was explained to Officer Groulx, but to no avail.

Colin was cursed with several medical issues. He lived with Type 2 diabetes and had diabetic neuropathy in his feet, which made walking difficult. According to his widow, Rose, he was also being treated with intravenous antibiotics for infections in his feet. As well, an X-ray in November revealed that Colin had fluid on his lungs, which led to breathing issues.

Christian says he and his father did the best they could to explain the medical complications to Groulx. Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and she demanded Colin provide a breath sample. Due to his weakened lungs, Colin was unable to blow hard enough for the breathalyzer device to register a reliable reading. That resulted in the CBSA calling the Windsor Police Service.

When Windsor Police arrived, Colin was arrested for failing to provide a breath sample, even though his son, Christian, is adamant that his father tried his best to comply.

Colin was subsequently taken to Windsor Police headquarters, handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser. Christian followed via taxi.

At Police HQ, Chrisitan claims his father was inexplicably denied medicine as well as any food or beverage. He said he repeatedly warned police that his father was in a dangerous setting, but again, his pleas fell on deaf ears. Rose, who is a healthcare worker, is convinced that Colin was likely experiencing diabetic hypoglycemia.

After hours in custody, Colin was released from police headquarters to take a taxi home (his SUV had been seized.) But mere seconds upon his release, Colin collapsed on the sidewalk outside the police station. A police officer performed CPR, but it was to no avail.

Rebel News reached out to the Windsor Police Service for comment. But par for the course when it comes to the Windsor Police Service, our request for comment was ignored even though WPS has a media relations team headed up by Gary Francoeur. Indeed, we’re still waiting to hear back from Francouer why the WPS has hired a so-called “transwoman”, Jonathan Roehler, who allegedly failed or did not take the WPS psych exam. But apparently DEI is more important to Francoeur than public safety.

However, Francouer did state the following to local Windsor media outlets shortly after Colin’s death: “Following his release from custody, Mr. Grey was observed to be in medical distress near our building. Windsor police members attempted life-saving measures, including performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and deploying an automated external defibrillator, until care was turned over to Emergency Medical Services.”

That’s it? Sadly, yes. No other details were provided, including how Colin was treated or perhaps mistreated while incarcerated.

When originally reached for comment, the CBSA provided the following statement:

“We are very saddened by the passing of Colin Grey and offer our deepest thoughts and sympathies to the family and friends.

“The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) does not provide comment or provide details on specific individual cases, nor can we confirm or deny the entry or possibility of entry of any one person to Canada. An individual’s border and immigration information is considered private and protected by the Privacy Act.

“We can confirm that border services officers are trained and directed to ask about medical conditions and ensure any necessary medications or food and drink are made available. As a matter of practice, all individuals detained by the CBSA are offered food and drink as part of the detention process. In addition, should an individual appear to be in medical distress, an emergency medical service would be contacted immediately. If a person has an apparent sickness, is suspected of having acute alcohol poisoning, is suspected of having a drug overdose, or they are injured or not fully conscious, officers will contact emergency services immediately, even if the person denies requiring a medical assessment.”

The CBSA declined to comment if an official investigation is underway regarding how Grey was treated on the Ambassador Bridge.

Last week, Rebel News personally visited the Ambassador Bridge to hopefully interview Officer Groulx. If she was on duty that day, she wasn't available. No further statement was provided.

Meanwhile in a statement released by the Special Investigations Unit, the SIU notes that it will not open an investigation into Colin’s death because he “died after his release from police custody and his death does not appear to be the result of any police action or inaction."

When Rebel News followed up with the SIU, noting that Colin’s death literally happened within seconds of his release from the WPS, spokeswoman Kristy Denette stated the following: “The SIU was notified by the Windsor Police Service of this incident on November 29 and has not invoked its mandate at this time. Based on the information the SIU currently has, the man’s death does not appear to be the result of any police action or inaction.

“While the SIU has not invoked its mandate at this time, every consideration will be given to opening an investigation in the event of new information coming to light.”

This statement is shocking. Again, keep in mind Colin collapsed less than one minute after leaving police headquarters. And according to Christian, it appears that the police did not heed Colin’s pleas that he needed his medications. And really, what would be the harm in the SIU conducting an investigation in the first place, just to determine what, if anything, went wrong?

In the aftermath, an autopsy revealed that Colin died of a heart attack. And another question arises: could this have been prevented?

Of note, the Black Council of Windsor-Essex has also taken a keen interest in this story. The council recently issued a public statement asking five key questions:

1. When attention was brought to the fact that Mr. Grey suffers from Type II diabetes, why was this information ignored?

2. Why were accommodations not provided to Mr. Grey, as outlined in the Ontario Human Rights Code, immediately upon the disclosure of his diabetes?

3. Was Mr. Grey informed about his right to seek legal advice as he was transferred to police custody?

4. Why was he detained for so long, four hours in CBSA and two in in WPS custody?

5. Why was the Special Investigations Unit so quick to dismiss this case and determine it as outside of their jurisdiction when the gentleman collapsed and died immediately after release from police custody?

As well, the Office of the Chief Coroner confirms it has launched a full investigation into Colin’s death. This could take as long as nine months to complete.

Bottom line: based on eyewitness testimony, the death of Colin Grey is enormously disturbing. We have seen no shortage of police behaving badly in 2024, from turning a blind eye to chants for genocide to arresting members of the independent media for reasons that are beyond our comprehension.

But what happened in Windsor on Nov. 29 could very well be the most egregious and outrageous example of law enforcement overreach given that a routine border crossing resulted in the needless fatality of a law-abiding citizen who’s only “crime” was that he was cursed with terrible medical issues.

And in the department of insult to injury, it would appear that a coverup is now well under way. That starts with the SIU ludicrously stating that Colin did not die in police custody, but rather, seconds after being released from custody, so there’s nothing to be done here.

Really?

And please note that Colin was allegedly not given the medicine he so desperately needed. Rose is currently lawyering up – it will prove fascinating to see what the police bodycam footage reveals.

As for the CBSA, hiding behind “privacy” concerns, this would be laughable if this story wasn’t so tragic. For starters, was agent Groulx acting incompetently or maliciously when she appears to have erroneously believed that Colin was inebriated? Or was something else at play? Answers to these questions – and so many others – will only emerge after a lawsuit is filed.

Without further explanation for the actions of the CBSA, it seems that two crimes may have been committed: needlessly killing a man, and then trying to cover-up this act of manslaughter based on privacy, confidentiality, and jurisdictional reasons.

Stay tuned for more reports as Rebel News will continue to dig for answers.

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David Menzies

Mission Specialist

David “The Menzoid” Menzies is the Rebel News "Mission Specialist." The Menzoid is equal parts outrageous and irreverent as he dares to ask the type of questions those in the Media Party would rather not ponder.

COMMENTS

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  • S M
    commented 2025-01-04 10:46:52 -0500
    Quote;
    Meanwhile in a statement released by the Special Investigations Unit, the SIU notes that it will not open an investigation into Colin’s death because he “died after his release from police custody and his death does not appear to be the result of any police action or inaction."

    If the CBSA’s actions were negligent and contributed to his death, blame would lye there as well, simply tossing another human being out the door for someone else to deal with simply does not shift the blame onto others. If CBSA ignored in any way his words for medicine and or help along with his Son they are culpable in my view.
  • S M
    commented 2025-01-04 10:21:41 -0500
    We all remember theKilling of Robert Dziekański
    Polish man killed by police at Vancouver Airport
    On October 14, 2007, Robert Dziekański, a 40-year old Polish immigrant to Canada, was killed during an arrest at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, during customs processing.
  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-01-03 18:28:23 -0500
    This is how the state gets away with murder. They hide and won’t communicate. They ignore legitimate questions. They hope it all will blow over. But the state messed with the wrong people. And Rebel News won’t let this horrific injustice rest. And I still don’t know how the CBSC figured Colin was drunk.