sexta-feira, maio 12, 2006

RCMP - Stonewall !

See just this Post & Comments / 0 Comments so far / Post a Comment /   Home
Next, Back, Thread Ahead: RCMP - Still No Answers, Thread Back: RCMP - Arrogant? Frightening?.

The RCMP themselves will not answer.
The CPC (Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP) will not answer.
The BC Legislature will not answer.
The Federal Government will not answer.

It is not just Ian Bush dead, there are others: Kevin St. Arnaud, Gurmeet Sandhu, Ryan Snopek - and there are more not listed here - 22 in the last four years.

On December 19, 2004, Kevin St. Arnaud, an unarmed robbery suspect, was shot and killed by Constable Ryan Sheremetta of the Vanderhoof RCMP Detachment. Sheremetta chases St. Arnaud, suspected of a break and enter in a local shopping mall, on foot across a snowy soccer field; St. Arnaud stops and puts his arms in the air then advances towards Sheremetta; Sheremetta fires three bullets into St. Arnaud's chest, killing him.

On June 30, 2005, Gurmeet Sandhu is multiply Tasered by a dozen RCMP and dies. Sandhu freaks out, possibly alcohol; his wife calls 911 for an ambulance; the cops arrive, can't subdue him and call for more; they say he is assaulting his wife, she says no; they Taser him nobody-knows-for-sure-how-many-times but more than 2; and he dies.

On January 1, 2006, Ryan Snopek is arrested by RCMP while unconscious and dies in the drunk tank of a brain haemorrhage.

There are more, Vancouver Police as well as the RCMP, and at least one together ... August 2005 - Constable Todd Sweet shoots three times into a stolen SUV and kills Kyle Tait; then there are; Gerald Chenery, Robert Wayne Bagnell, Benny Matson, Roman Andreichikov, Jeff Berg, Frank Paul.

On October 22, 2000, Jeff Berg, unarmed, sober, no material criminal record, is confronted by an armed police officer in a Vancouver alley. According to two civilian eyewitnesses, the officer knocks Berg to the ground and kicks him repeatedly as he is lying motionless on the pavement. Berg loses consciousness and dies as a result of a blow to the neck. The autopsy report indicates he was struck or kicked at least ten times in the head.

On June 23, 2004, five police officers respond to a call for medical assistance. Two of them shock Robert Bagnell, unarmed, with 50,000 volts from their Tasers as he lies on the floor of his Vancouver rooming house washroom. His heart stops and he dies.

If the police are going to go killing numbers of people like this, then they are going to have to either come clean on the details and charge officers with murder or lose public confidence. Public loss of confidence in the police is a vicious downward spiral.

BCCLA - The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, Website.
BCCLA letter to CPC.

In the Globe this morning, Gary Mason is back at it: Globe: Gary Mason - NDP wants probe into B.C. man's death.

Click to Enlarge / Click para AumentarClick to Enlarge / Click para AumentarThe NDP MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly, ie the provincial government of British Columbia), Robin Austin, aked some questions about the death of Ian Bush at the hands of RCMP Constable Paul Koester in the Legislature yesterday and got no answers, nor the promise of any.

Robin graduated from UNBC in 2004 with a Bachelor of Social Work,and is the first UNBC grad to be elected to the BC Legislature - he's a newbie, good on 'im!

Click to Enlarge / Click para AumentarThe man to whom the questions were addressed, the Solicitor-General, Liberal MLA John Les, just used the opportunity to attack federal MP Nathan Cullen for being afraid of the RCMP. That's the stuff! You are not allowed to Know! You are not allowed to Ask! And you are not allowed to Talk About Not Asking For It! Hermetic! John Les thinks that an investigation involving one (living) person can quite reasonably take 6 months, or as long as it takes - that the world is unfolding as it should. He thinks that his stonewalling will put an end to the issue - I think he is mistaken.

Click to Enlarge / Click para AumentarAttorney-General Wally Oppal, has previously acknowledged having some concerns about the Ian Bush case apparently - I will see if I can find a reference.

Click to Enlarge / Click para AumentarThe man in charge is Premier Gordon Campbell.

Here are their e-mail coordinates:
MLA for Skeena: Robin Austin E-mail.
Premier: Gordon Campbell E-mail, and/or (probably) Gordon Campbell E-mail.
Attorney-General: Wally Oppal E-mail.
Solicitor-General: John Les E-mail.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .