Video of police punching suspect strains relations with RCMP: chief
Incident brings back memories of Raymond Silverfox case, says Eric Fairclough
The father of a Yukon man caught on video being punched by an RCMP officer earlier this week says he's glad the incident was captured on tape and says the unnamed officer's conduct during the incident "isn't right."
"Even if you do something like break your conditions, you shouldn't be roughed up like that," says Ed Skookum, the father of Josh Skookum, the man shown being arrested by a Whitehorse police officer in the video.
In the video, the officer punches Josh Skookum in the head while pinning him to the ground. The officer then forces the man onto his stomach and handcuffs him.
"Luckily there are kids that know how to operate the cellphone and get a video going," says Ed Skookum, a former chief of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation.
Josh Skookum appeared in court Thursday with two black eyes. He faces several charges related to breaches of conditions, resisting arrest and assaulting a peace officer.
He was released on bail.
Memories of Raymond Silverfox
The current chief of the First Nation says the incident has put a strain on relations between his community and police.
Eric Fairclough says it's conjured memories of Raymond Silverfox, the Little Salmon Carmacks man who died in police custody in 2008 following insensitive and callous treatment.
"That's in the back of everybody's mind right now," Fairclough says. "I think everybody believes that there was some excessive force being used and basically misconduct of the RCMP."
Yukon RCMP have said they will limit what they publicly say about the incident, to "avoid influencing the investigation or any future processes that may result."
Alberta's Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to lead the investigation. In the meantime, RCMP say the officer has been reassigned to administrative duties.
Fairclough says Yukon First Nations want to have a representative as part of the independent investigation into the use of force.
"I think what we all need to do is hear all of the story," he says.
Police have not said how long the investigation might take.