'Get it together': grieving Indigenous mother let down by Canada police, report finds

[Judi Lynn]

Colten Boushie’s mother: ‘I did not deserve how I was treated’

Officers accused of discrimination in 2016 case

Leyland Cecco in Toronto
Mon 22 Mar 2021 19.52 EDT

Police in Canada told a grieving Indigenous mother to “get over it” after delivering news that her son had been killed, according to a scathing watchdog report that accused officers of discrimination and inflaming racial tensions during their investigation.

Colten Boushie, 22, was shot and killed in August 2016 after he and four friends drove on to a farm looking for help with their flat tyre. Nearly two years later, an all-white jury found Gerald Stanley, 56, not guilty of second-degree murder amid racial tensions in the Canadian prairies and deficiencies in the justice system.

In a report released on Monday, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, which oversees the Royal Canadian Mounted police, found that police treated Boushie’s mother, Debbie Baptiste “with such insensitivity that her treatment amounted to discrimination”.

On the night of Boushie’s death, police officers armed with carbines surrounded Baptis

e’s property before notifying her.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/22/canada-police-indigenous-discrimination-colten-boushie-report



Colten Boushie

Documentary released last year:

SYDNEY, N.S. — APTN will air the award-winning feature length documentary “nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up,” this Sunday at 7 p.m. The documentary explores the continued colonial violence toward Indigenous people and centres on Colten Boushie’s family and their search for justice.

Boushie was 22 years old when he was shot and killed by George Stanley in August of 2016. Boushie’s death and Stanley’s subsequent acquittal have led to an outcry demanding for changes in the judicial system and its failures for Indigenous people. Boushie was Cree from Red Pheasant Cree Nation.

Filmmaker Tasha Hubbard explores the systemic racism that marred the investigation, the trial and the public response. The film also features Jade Tootoosis, Boushie's sister, and their family's quest to make the calls for justice a global rallying cry for Indigenous rights.

A community engagement guide also accompanied the documentary.

The guide also instructs all Indigenous viewers to take care while viewing the doc because scenes and events may be triggering.

The film has won 10 awards including best Canadian documentary at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle.

https://www.saltwire.com/lifestyles/regional-lifestyles/colten-boushie-documentary-airing-sunday-on-aptn-495425/

[Aristus]

1. Shit.

Looks like American law enforcement's thuggish insensitivity is leaking over the border to the North.

We seriously need to reform how we hire and train police officers.

Recruiting just any ham-fisted, ham-brained loser with a gun fetish just isn't working anymore...