RCMP Come Out With Lame Ass Excuse For Pepper Spraying Infants and Children
An RCMP spokesperson apologized for pepper spraying an infant and other children on the Sechelt Reserve in B.C., but said the officers acted in self-defence to stop the angry crowd.
The incident began when one officer claimed he saw 10 young people 'carousing' in the back of a black pick-up truck, and attempted to stop the truck and give them a warning. Although the RCMP has helped the band celebrate in the past by blocking roads on the reserve, an officer with the force was unfamiliar with the 40-year-old tradition and tried to intervene, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Brad Zalys.
"All he was doing was trying to be concerned about the safety of the children and make sure they were sitting down [in the back of the trucks]," he said.
Staff Sgt. Zalys admitted that relationships with the band are "very strained" right now, and apologized for the damage done to the children. Fourteen people, six of them children were hospitalized, with infant Kayden Mayers the youngest casualty. Doctors at St. Mary's Hospital in Sechelt had to freeze 7 month old Kayden's eyeballs to check for serious damage.
"It's very unfortunate these kids got sprayed," he said. "I certainly apologize to the mother for that. It wasn't the intent of the members to spray the infant or the child in any way."
In typical fashion, the RCMP will launch an 'internal' investigation into what happened. Don't hold your breath for anything approaching justice to come from this internal review.
You can let the senior officials of the RCMP know what you think about this incident with this online comment form.
Canada.com
The incident began when one officer claimed he saw 10 young people 'carousing' in the back of a black pick-up truck, and attempted to stop the truck and give them a warning. Although the RCMP has helped the band celebrate in the past by blocking roads on the reserve, an officer with the force was unfamiliar with the 40-year-old tradition and tried to intervene, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Brad Zalys.
"All he was doing was trying to be concerned about the safety of the children and make sure they were sitting down [in the back of the trucks]," he said.
Staff Sgt. Zalys admitted that relationships with the band are "very strained" right now, and apologized for the damage done to the children. Fourteen people, six of them children were hospitalized, with infant Kayden Mayers the youngest casualty. Doctors at St. Mary's Hospital in Sechelt had to freeze 7 month old Kayden's eyeballs to check for serious damage.
"It's very unfortunate these kids got sprayed," he said. "I certainly apologize to the mother for that. It wasn't the intent of the members to spray the infant or the child in any way."
In typical fashion, the RCMP will launch an 'internal' investigation into what happened. Don't hold your breath for anything approaching justice to come from this internal review.
You can let the senior officials of the RCMP know what you think about this incident with this online comment form.
Canada.com
Thanks Buckdog, I've been away for a bit and ignoring the news and I think I would have missed this one. I hope the officer involved is moved to guard Alert NWT without the northern allowance. I'm glad the kid is ok even if the freezing of the eyeball sounds horribly painful. Check out my blog for my opinion piece on the matter!
keep up the great work!
Posted by
Bill Stevenson |
7:00 pm, July 04, 2007