Indigenous chief says Canadian police beat him over expired licence plate

Authored by uk.reuters.com and submitted by Fitz_cuniculus
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WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - An indigenous chief alleged on Saturday that Canadian police beat him in March after an incident involving an expired licence plate on his truck.

Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipeywan First Nation displays his wounds that he says were caused by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers of the Wood Buffalo detachment in an incident in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada March 10, 2020. Courtesy of Allan Adam via REUTERS

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), however, say officers used reasonable force after Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation resisted arrest, and laid criminal charges against him.

Adam made the allegations as protests spread around the world following the death in Minneapolis of a black man in police custody on May 25.

Indigenous people this week expressed outrage at two other incidents with Canadian police, including the shooting death of a young woman.

Adam, speaking in Fort McMurray, Alberta, said RCMP approached his parked truck on March 10 as he and his wife prepared to leave a casino in the city.

After police refused to answer why they had pulled up, the couple began to drive away, before an officer ordered them to stop and pulled Adam’s wife from the driver’s seat, Adam said.

He then intervened. An officer grabbed his arm while a second one knocked him down and punched him, Adam said.

“We are a minority and nobody speaks up for us,” Adam said.

Senior police reviewed in-car video and determined police actions were reasonable and an external investigation not justified, said RCMP Const. Patrick Lambert.

But Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said he was “deeply disturbed” by a photo of Adam’s swollen and bloodied face taken after the incident.

“While we cannot comment on a specific case before the courts, we will be following developments of these serious and troubling claims closely.”

Adam’s lawyer called for police to release their video and suspend one officer.

The chief is due in court on July 2, charged with resisting arrest and assaulting police.

Adam said he waited to publicize the incident because he was busy with pandemic precautions.

dice145 on June 7th, 2020 at 04:19 UTC »

Here is the video of the arrest that the Chief provided at the press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZSO6u6uVyQ

Please take the time to read the actual article. The Chief says the RCMP manhandled his wife, clothes-lined him, knocked him down and cut his face.

The RCMP are charging Chief Adams with resisting arrest and unlawful assault of a police officer.

The video is pretty low-quality, and it seems to miss the important parts of the police's interactions with the Chief because they move behind a car and the next thing you know he's on the ground. The Chief is calling for the RCMP to release the dashcam footage that he says shows the RCMP using excessive force.

RCMP's response to the incident:

“During the course of the arrest, Mr. Adam was resisting the members and, unfortunately, to bring the situation under control, the members were required to use force to effect the arrest,” Fraser Logan, the Alberta RCMP’s media relations manager, said in a statement to The Globe. “This incident was captured on the in-car video system in the police vehicle...and it was determined that the members’ actions were reasonable.”

Why the RCMP says it won't release the dashcam footage:

Chief Adam faces charges of resisting arrest and assault of a police officer. The RCMP said it would not release its video because “this is a matter before the courts.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-indigenous-chief-says-rcmp-beat-him-up-and-manhandled-his-wife-over/?cmpid=rss

Mustard-Tiger on June 7th, 2020 at 01:48 UTC »

Ah good ole boomtown Casino in Fort Mac. That parking lot outside basically turns into thunderdome after dark.

autotldr on June 6th, 2020 at 23:03 UTC »

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 75%. (I'm a bot)

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - An indigenous chief alleged on Saturday that Canadian police beat him in March after an incident involving an expired licence plate on his truck.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police say officers used reasonable force after Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation resisted arrest, and laid criminal charges against him.

Senior police reviewed in-car video and determined police actions were reasonable and an external investigation not justified, said RCMP Const.

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