Lethbridge Herald

RCMP launches code-of-conduct investigat­ion

‘APPALLING’ COMMENT ON SASK. INDIGENOUS MAN’S DEATH PROBED BY RCMP

- THE CANADIAN PRESS — OTTAWA

The RCMP says it will undertake a code-ofconduct investigat­ion into a private Facebook group posting by a person believed to be an officer who reportedly said Colten Boushie deserved to die.

A report on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network says an RCMP officer on the Prairies posted the message, which says the shooting of the 22-year-old Indigenous man on a Saskatchew­an farm should never have been about race.

Boushie died when he and four other people drove onto Gerald Stanley’s farm near Biggar, Sask., in August 2016.

Stanley was charged with second-degree murder and faced trial in Battleford, but was found not guilty by a jury last Friday.

A statement from RCMP National Headquarte­rs in Ottawa says the social media posting is antithetic­al to the force’s standards and the Facebook group mentioned in the report is not managed by the RCMP.

Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says the remark is unacceptab­le and there will be consequenc­es, depending on the outcome of the investigat­ion.

“This should never have been allowed to be about race ... crimes were committed and a jury found the man not guilty in protecting his home and family,” the post said. “Too bad the kid died but he got what he deserved.”

APTN did not disclose the person’s identity, but said two sources shared screenshot­s of the posting and revealed who the officer is.

The message has since been deleted from the site called “News Stories that Matter to or May Impact RCMP,” which has 1,200 members who must answer questions posed by an administra­tor about their policing careers before being admitted.

The RCMP’s statement in response to the story said on- and off-duty members must behave in accordance with the force’s code of conduct.

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