An officer pulls his weapon and uses threatening language toward a suspect in Pelican Narrows. This is a screenshot from a video taken of the incident and posted online. Police say a machete was seized during one of three incidents involving the officer they are reviewing. (Facebook)

By Nigel Maxwell

controversial arrest

Pelican Narrows officer re-assigned as RCMP review online video, launch investigation

Jul 2, 2019 | 6:10 PM

After a video of a police officer yelling expletives and threatening remarks surfaced on social media over the weekend, the Saskatchewan RCMP have confirmed the Mountie was re-assigned pending an internal investigation.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, RCMP also mentioned a Code of Conduct investigation was initiated. The statement said the officer shown on the video has been assigned to non-frontline work, pending the outcome of the investigation.

“The RCMP takes these matters seriously. The RCMP has been in contact with local community leaders and will be making them aware of the results of the review and investigation as well as any actions taken by the RCMP with regards to the officer involved,” the statement said.

In a video which is roughly 10 seconds long, one of the officers appears to be pointing a gun at the accused while he says “I’ll [expletive] kill you.”

The suspect, who is kneeling and appears to be in the process of being handcuffed, then says something before being interrupted by the officer.

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“Shut the [expletive] up. You’re under arrest for possession of (unclear).”

The last word is unclear because of wind noise during recording.

paNOW made the decision over the weekend not to post the video. The person who initially posted the videos had expressed concern for their own safety, if they were to be identified.

In their statement Tuesday, the RCMP made made no mention of the events leading up to the arrest, only there had been two incidents that day in the community, and both involved weapons. The identity of the suspect in the video cannot be released as he is under the under the age of 18. His identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

“We are aware of a third incident the same morning including this officer responding to a call involving a weapon. It is also under review,” the RCMP statement said. A statement issued by RCMP Sunday called the language used by the officer “concerning,” but there was no mention of a machete at that time. Tuesday’s statement said a machete had been seized during the incident that was on video.

The RCMP was not the only organization speaking about the videos Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) released a statement on its Facebook page, calling for the immediate termination and charges against the police officer in the video.

“This video, which we have, clearly shows the racist and ignorant actions of this RCMP member in Pelican Narrows and reaffirms that racism still exists within the force. More must be done to stop this, including the immediate termination of this officer and the laying of appropriate charges,” a section of the statement said.

The FSIN also said there was no need for the officer to point his gun, given that the suspect was on his knees being handcuffed by the fellow officer and the situation was under control.

Pelican Narrows is a community within Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN). Chief Peter Beatty said the conduct of the officer was unprofessional.

“There are probably other ways to get your point across forcefully other than to use that kind of language,” he told paNOW.

Beatty said the decision to remove the officer from the community was good not only for the safety of the community, but for the safety of the officer as well. He said he expected officers in his community to be culturally trained. When asked if he thought the officer would ever be welcomed back in the community, Beatty said he did not think so, adding the damage to community relations was significant.

“Once that happens there’s no taking it back, and it’s going to be engrained in everybody’s mind for a long time,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell