Chief accuses RCMP of violence
Adam says that police beat him, ‘manhandled’ his wife in March
Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is accusing Wood Buffalo RCMP of beating him and “manhandling” his wife outside the Boomtown Casino in March.
According to the chief, the incident happened in the parking lot on March 10 at approximately 2 a.m. when officers noticed his truck had an expired licence plate.
Adam did not realize the registration had expired. He was told about the registration when he was outside the vehicle, moving a baby seat to make room for the friend.
He went back inside the vehicle to tell his wife, Freda Courtoreille, they could not leave.
At that point, Adam alleges the officer opened the driver’s side door, pulled Courtoreille out of her seat and pushed her against the vehicle.
Adam left the vehicle and confronted the officer. At that point, a second officer who was not part of the initial stop ran over and tackled Adam to the ground.
This left his face bruised and cut. While Adam’s wife was released without charges, he spent the night at a Wood Buffalo RCMP detachment.
Adam was released the following morning, but has been charged with resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.
Fraser Logan, a spokesperson for Alberta RCMP, said Adam refused medical treatment while he was in police custody.
“Mr. Adam was placed under arrest and resisted,” he said. “They were trying to effect an arrest and there was enough resistance that the members did use additional force to effect that arrest.”
Adam says he will release a video of the incident during a Saturday morning news conference he says proves the officers overstepped their limits.
The RCMP also have a recording of the incident.
“This shows it’s time we have a systematic overhaul of our justice system in how it treats minority people and Indigenous people,” Adam said in a Friday evening interview with Postmedia.
Adam said that he was advised by elders and councillors not to comment on the incident after he was released from custody.
At the time, the First Nation was busy co-ordinating COVID -19 response plans.
However, the chief changed his mind after seeing the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died after a white police officer kept his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest.
“What you saw happen in the United States to George Floyd is no different than what happened to Dudley George at Ipperwash,” he said.
Adam is scheduled to appear in Fort Mcmurray provincial court on July 2.