Trial begins for RCMP officer accused of assault, uttering threats, in Arctic Bay, Nunavut

Warning: This story includes offensive language. 

The trial of a former Arctic Bay RCMP relief officer facing two charges started Tuesday in Iqaluit. 

Const. Luke Tomkinson is charged with assault with a weapon and uttering threats in connection to an incident in Arctic Bay in February 2020. Tomkinson was also initially charged with pointing a firearm, but the charge was dropped in court Tuesday. 

Cpl. Jesse Byer, who had worked in Arctic Bay for about three years when the incident occurred, testified on Tuesday. 

Byer said both officers attended a call in the community on a Saturday around 10:45 a.m., which was initially dispatched as a mental health call. 

Byer said when he and Tomkinson arrived, they found two men in the home and arrested one for drug possession.

The court also heard that the charges against the man for drug possession were later stayed, and no illegal substances were found in the home. 

Court heard that Tomkinson had been in the community for 30 days before the day of the incident. 

A video filmed by one of the house's residents was also played in court, showing part of the arrest and some struggle between the officers and the man being arrested. 

A different man sitting out of the video's frame can be heard swearing at the police.

At this point in the video, Tomkinson pulls out his Taser from his belt and raises it at the man who is sitting out of the frame. 

"You really want some of this, do ya? I'll get you right in the f--king face," Tomkinson says to the man. 

The man sitting out of frame is then heard saying, "I'll kill you."

Tomkinson then puts the Taser back in his belt. 

Tomkinson was only charged with the offences last year and no longer works in the community. 

The man who filmed the interaction also testified on Tuesday. He said he was sleeping upstairs when he heard yelling and decided to start filming from up the stairs, just out of view of the police. 

Both Byer and the man who filmed the video say they heard the man out of frame threaten to kill the police during the incident before it was said on the video, but neither could remember when or if it was said for certain. 

The trial is being held in the boardroom of Building 1106 in Iqaluit because there was no space available in the Nunavut Court of Justice. 

It's expected to run for two weeks and will hear from other witnesses who were in the house as well as at least one Crown expert.