A Siksika First Nation man’s home was invaded by RCMP officers in the wee hours of the morning. Having been roused from his sleep rather rudely, Christian Duck Chief thought his home was being robbed and initially resisted. After the “you’re under arrest”s started he understood what was happening. He was beaten by the arresting officer even after he stopped freaking out:
RCMP making an arrest are alleged to have battered an Alberta First Nation man, hauled him naked from his home and brought him to a detachment before realizing he needed an ambulance, says his family who are accusing the police of racism and brutality.
Christian Duck Chief, 23, is recovering from a broken eye socket, fractured cheek bone, fracture to the back of his head and a broken nose.
Duck Chief and his wife say they were sleeping in their home on the Siksika First Nation southeast of Calgary Friday when RCMP from the Gleichen detachment entered their home around 6 a.m. to arrest him.
“I can hear him screaming for me, and I can hear him saying ‘Stop, honey help me,'” said Duck Chief’s wife, Chantel Stonechild, who said she was taken out of the home as her husband was still being beaten.
They acknowledge Duck Chief struggled at first, saying he was on his stomach when woken and didn’t know it was police. But they allege an RCMP officer hit him at least 20 times after he stopped struggling and shouted that he wasn’t resisting, even as he lay handcuffed on the floor.
Duck Chief — who has been charged in connection with the incident — and his lawyer said the force used by the officer was excessive.
…
Duck Chief said he struggled at first because he thought someone had broken into their home and was attacking them, and initially bit the officer’s finger.
That’s when the beating began, according to Stonechild. She said that as soon as the officer said “stop resisting arrest” her husband realized what was happening and complied.
“Christian said, ‘I’m not resisting, I’m not resisting,’ and the cop started elbowing him in the face,” said Stonechild. “More than 20 times that cop hit him on the face while he was on the ground.”
Even while he was on the ground, handcuffed and not resisting, the elbows to the face continued, said Stonechild.
Well gee, if someone entered my home completely unannounced I’d probably assume the worst, too. Is this standard operating protocol?
Oh, and of course, it couldn’t be a mistake by the cops. Duck Chief must have some overdue book fees or something to warrant getting elbowed in the face twenty fucking times, after being handcuffed. But he’s the one being penalized with “resisting arrest”?
I say we break into the cop’s home, sneak into his bedroom, and start our protest at six in the morning by shaking him awake, then pressing him with assault charges when he freaks out. That’s apparently how law enforcement works now.
-Shiv
Slight tangent: The fact that cops aren’t more routinely shot during incidents like this is a pretty good argument against guns for home defense.
So on top of whatever it was that required such an early wake-up call, he’s going to get extra charges for not knowing it’s the police showing up unannounced in his dark bedroom. Yeah, I’d probably bite a finger or two, too, in a moment of panic like that.
In Ontario the OPP or Quebec the QPP, would have gone in with guns blazing.
so yay™ RCMP in Alberta?
The cops aren’t saying why they chose this course of action, so I’m guessing they think Duck Chief is a terrorist with a huge arsenal of weapons.
’cause they wouldn’t do this over a stolen truck or a minor parole violation.
Right?
As smug as Canadians like to be when we compare ourselves to the US, our treatment of First Nations people has always been and still is fucking reprehensible. Are we shooting as many unarmed minorities? No. But we have atrocities like the “starlight tours” that caused people to die. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskatoon_freezing_deaths