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SIRT to investigate Loon Lake officers’ actions during MSFN arrest
According to police, the truth behind any claims of excessive force used by Loon Lake RCMP members during a recent arrest will soon come to light. Earlier this week, Saskatchewan RCMP received several requests related to a video shared via social media with regard to a July 27 incident at Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation. The video, originally posted by Teyonah Angus shows an RCMP officer repeatedly punching a First Nations woman in the face during an arrest on MSFN that morning. The woman, identified as Angus’ mother, Rose Georgina Angus, is seen with blood on her face while being restrained. The footage immediately sparked widespread public outrage.
“Look what they did to my poor mom,” Teyonah Angus posted along with the video. “My mom has never had anything to do with the law ever. She has no existing criminal record whatsoever. How is this acceptable for them to do this to my mother? She is a 40-year-old Indigenous Cree woman, a mother of four, she’s someone’s baby, she’s someone’s mother, she’s someone’s cousin, niece, auntie. She’s someone and they treated her like she was nothing.” The video even prompted the organization of a peaceful protest outside the Loon Lake RCMP detachment Monday and Tuesday of this week. At first, the RCMP felt the actions taken by the two members seen in the video were justified.
“On July 27 at approximately 5 a.m., Loon Lake RCMP officers responded to a report of a drug-impaired person on a street of Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation,” reads a recent RCMP news release. “While responding, police officers observed an adult man wanted on warrant entering a residence of the same street… Police officers approached the residence and spoke with the house occupants at the door. Two wanted men were arrested at the door without incident.” The RCMP go on to state, during the arrest, a 40-year-old woman (Rose Georgina Angus) became confrontational and punched the two police officers. “The officers told her to stop moving, but she left the entrance area of the residence and went down the stairs,” the news release continues. “She was arrested outside the residence. The three arrested individuals were transported to the detachment where the 40-year-old woman was seen by EMS for what was described as minor injuries.”
The RCMP also noted, when police officers are required to intervene in a given situation, it is, by nature, a complex, dynamic and constantly evolving situation, often in a highly charged atmosphere. “We recognize any enforcement action can generate strong reactions and we take those concerns seriously,” the news release states. “Section 25 of The Criminal Code provides police officers with the ability to use force in the lawful execution of their duties, as long as they are acting on reasonable grounds. Following an initial review of this incident at the Saskatchewan RCMP district level, which included the viewing of the RCMP body-worn camera footage, the force used by the police officers involved in this incident was determined to be reasonable.”
The body-worn camera footage is evidence and will be presented as part of court proceedings. “In accordance with Saskatchewan RCMP policy, this incident has not been reported to SIRT given the non-serious nature of the injuries sustained by the woman arrested in this incident,” the initial news release concludes. However, come Tuesday afternoon, a second news release was issued by the RCMP indicating SIRT will indeed investigate the incident.
“As part of our commitment to transparency, and considering public interest, Saskatchewan RCMP has asked the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) to perform an external independent investigation of the incident,” the release notes. “SIRT has accepted this request. The officers involved in this incident will remain on duty during the investigation.”
Meanwhile, as a result of the initial investigation, 30-year-old Lane Anthony Purves of Edmonton, who was wanted on warrant from Swift Current RCMP for charges including theft, was arrested. Rayden Joe Kytwayhat, 28, of Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation, who was wanted on warrant from Loon Lake RCMP for charges including domestic assaults, was also arrested. Meanwhile, Rose Georgina Angus of Makwa Sahgiahecan First Nation has been charged with: two counts of assault of a police officer; two counts of resisting a police officer; one count of obstructing a police officer; and one count of possession of cocaine. Angus appeared in Meadow Lake provincial court Tuesday (July 28), during which time another peaceful protest was held outside the courthouse. “They (RCMP) say they did not use excessive force, but you can clearly see on that video it was not called for how they punched, pulled her hair and tased her,” Angus’ mother, Mabel Angus, told Northern Pride. “Two big cops tasing a woman – that’s unacceptable.”
Mabel Angus also questions what the RCMP members’ body-worn cameras actually show. “Were their body-cams on?” she asked. “From what I understand, their cameras were lit up red and they should have been green if they were on. There is nothing to prove what they’re saying. It’s a coverup.” Also on hand for the protests in Loon Lake as well as the Meadow Lake courthouse was area resident Tara Sinclair. “When we were protesting at the Loon Lake detachment (Monday), there was no ambulance there,” Sinclair said. “That ambulance didn’t show up until about an hour after we started protesting. When we asked the RCMP why the ambulance was there, they said it was for someone else… It was there for Rose. Is that when they finally cared to check on her and to give her medical attention?” In closing, Mabel Angus said the RCMP members involved in the arrest need to be held accountable. “They need to be dismissed of their duties,” she said. “We don’t need cops like that. This is Canada.”