Story at a glance
- A chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation was arrested after being stopped for an expired license plate.
- Dashcam video shows police forcing Chief Allan Adam to the ground, with his wife and another family member in the vehicle.
- An independent investigative unit is looking into the arrest, according to Canadian officials.
George Floyd’s death has brought attention to police using force against black and indigenous people of color not only in the United States, but across the border in Canada. Police dashcam video of the violent arrest of Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation has raised an outcry from protesters.
At 2 a.m. on March 10, the Wood Buffalo Royal Canadian Mounted Police stopped Adam over an expired license plate, according to a police report. The report mentions the video and says it was reviewed by superiors, who “determined that the members’ actions were reasonable and did not meet the threshold for an external investigation.”
The nearly 12-minute video shows Adam leaving his vehicle parked in front of Boomtown Casino in Fort McMurray, which recently reopened after closing due to the coronavirus pandemic. He approaches a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and, in an off-camera discussion, can be heard telling an officer that he wants him to tell his superiors that he is “tired of being harassed by the RCMP.”
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He is told to return to the truck, which he does, after which his wife steps out of the vehicle. A police officer can be seen grabbing and twisting her arm, at which point Adam intervenes. Sirens from another police vehicle can be heard before another officer runs into view, knocking Adam over by his neck and punching him as he lies on the ground, yelling “don’t resist.” A photo of Adam taken after the arrest shows one of his cheeks badly bruised and his face is swollen and bloodied.
“What happened to me is not unusual or shocking. This happens every day to black, brown, low income and indigenous people across Canada,” Adam said in a statement. “Despite only representing 5 percent of the population, Indigenous Canadians make up over 30 percent of the prison population here. Structural racism, out of date policing methods and the diminished socio-economic status of Indigenous Canadians means that we rarely have a fighting change in our judicial and policing system.”
Adam is facing charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer and has said he will be pursuing civil action against the police department. A GoFundMe page pinned to the tribe’s Twitter account is collecting donations toward his legal expenses.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said in a Tweet on June 7 that there would be an independent investigation of the incident. The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team, established in 2008 as an independent police oversight unit, is now investigating the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
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“I will never defend the indefensible and where someone appears to exceed their authority or use excessive force or act in a discriminatory way, that individual needs to be held accountable,” Blair said during a press conference carried on CBC News. “As a government and a country we need to look at all of the conditions that give rise to social injustice in our country and do a better job.”
On June 5, days before the video was released, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki released a statement addressing the death of George Floyd and ensuing protests.
“I have shared a clear message with all employees of the RCMP: We are here for everyone. No matter what they look like, sound like, or where they come from. We have a shared responsibility to advocate for dignity and practice respect for all. There is no room for racism — or any other kind of discrimination — in Canada’s RCMP. Those attitudes, and the actions they lead to, drag down every employee in this profession who is working hard to keep their communities safe and give Canadians the police service they deserve,” Lucki said.
The former Toronto chief of police, Blair pushed back against demands to defund police departments, saying, “it’s not a zero-sum discussion.”
At a news conference on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged systemic racism in the country’s law enforcement systems.
“Systemic racism is an issue right across the country, in all of our institutions, including in all of our police forces, including in the RCMP. Recognizing that is difficult and we need to make sure that we are moving forward in really meaningful ways and that is also going to be difficult,” he said.
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