By Canadian Press

Indigenous chief alleges RCMP beat him during arrest that began over expired tags

Jun 6, 2020 | 12:44 PM

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — The chief of a northern Alberta First Nation is calling for the government to investigate after he alleges RCMP assaulted him during an arrest that he says began over a simple matter of expired registration tags on his truck.

Athabasca Chipewayan Chief Allan Adam says in a news release that he, his wife and his niece were getting into his truck in the Peter Pond Mall in downtown Fort McMurray early on March 10 when officers confronted him.

Adam says the tags on his truck weren’t up-to-date, but instead of simply reminding him to renew the tags and let him take a taxi home, he says the officers “used the occasion to beat and arrest” him “in front of family and a number of witnesses in the parking lot.”

The chief released video of the confrontation as well as a picture of himself that he says was taken after the arrest showing him with a large bruise around his right eye and dried blood on his cheek.

RCMP say in a news release that they initiated a vehicle stop on an unoccupied and idling vehicle with an expired plate on at around 2 a.m. on March 10, and that there was a confrontation with Adam when he returned to the vehicle which they say resulted in him resisting arrest.

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Police say members were required to use force, and that Adam is charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer and will be in Wood Buffalo Provincial court on July 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2020.

The Canadian Press