The Chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation says though he was happy to study final week that a corrections officer has been arrested and charged within the loss of life of a Sagkeeng man, he and different Indigenous leaders are additionally offended concerning the man’s loss of life, and about his supposed remedy whereas behind bars.
“To this present day, I'm deeply saddened and angered about how my neighborhood member was handled, and finally how he died,” Sagkeeng First Nation Chief Derrick Henderson stated in a Monday media launch reacting to final Friday’s announcement by the RCMP that fees have been laid towards a Headingley Correctional Centre jail guard, after an inmate died again in February 2021.
The person who died was 45-year-old Will Ahmo from the Sagkeeng First Nation, a First Nations neighborhood north of Winnipeg that borders the city of Powerview-Pine Falls.
Ahmo was in custody on the provincial jail after being charged with aggravated assault and theft with an imitation weapon on Dec. 18, 2020, and he was scheduled to look in court docket on Feb. 22, 2021.
In keeping with RCMP, officers had been known as to the Headingley Correctional Centre on Feb. 7, 2021, after Ahmo was discovered unresponsive following a chronic standoff between corrections officers and an inmate in a standard space contained in the jail.
The standoff ended when the power’s Crucial Emergency Response Staff extracted Ahmo from the world, however he grew to become unresponsive following the extraction and was taken to hospital in medical misery.
Seven days later, Ahmo died on the Well being Sciences Centre.
The Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner later dominated Ahmo’s loss of life a murder, and final Friday it was introduced that a 43-year-old corrections officer had been arrested and charged with prison negligence inflicting loss of life, and failing to offer the requirements of life.
Henderson stated he believes it's now time for “transformative” change on this province in relation to how incarcerated Indigenous persons are handled.
“William is only one of so a lot of our individuals who have been taken from us whereas in colonial justice and well being care methods,” Henderson stated.
“I can solely hope the ruling leads to actual and transformative change in relation to the remedy of incarcerated First Nation individuals.”
Again in February of 2021 the household of Ahmo launched an announcement by means of their lawyer requesting an inquest be known as into Ahmo’s loss of life, and within the assertion members of the family claimed that they had heard “disturbing studies” concerning the remedy of inmates by corrections officers on the jail.
“Will instructed us that the correctional officers handled him and different inmates as lower than human, that they didn't put on private protecting gear, like masks, to guard inmates from COVID-19, and that he was involved that one thing may occur to him,” the household stated within the assertion.
Jerry Daniels, the Grand Chief of the Southern Chiefs Group (SCO) stated in an announcement on Monday that he welcomes the information of fees being laid, but additionally hopes it results in a deeper look into how Indigenous persons are handled and handled when incarcerated.
“Lengthy earlier than and because the creation of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry we've witnessed numerous examples of systemic racism in jails with lethal penalties for our individuals,” Daniels stated.
“As leaders, we should now do all the pieces we will to make sure William’s loss of life and people earlier than him are usually not in useless.”
In an announcement, Meeting of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Grand Chief Arlen Dumas stated he believes that problems with “institutional racism” within the justice and corrections methods are resulting in the deaths of Indigenous individuals in Manitoba.
“What number of extra of our First Nations individuals should die due to the racism encountered in these so-called correctional amenities?” Dumas stated. “How can the system that prides itself on defending individuals permit for thus many individuals to die?
“That is concerning the people who find themselves working and operating these establishments who're killing our individuals and getting away with it.
“We can not let this stand any longer.”
The Winnipeg Solar reached out to Manitoba Justice for a touch upon the arrest, and a response to feedback from Indigenous leaders concerning the remedy of First Nations people who find themselves in custody, however a provincial spokesperson stated as a result of the matter is earlier than the courts they'd supply no remark presently.
— Dave Baxter is a Native Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Solar. The Native Journalism Initiative is funded by the Authorities of Canada.