RCMP probe alleged Mountie posting on Boushie death
OTTAWA — The RCMP says it will undertake a code-of-conduct investigation into a private Facebook group posting, by a person believed to be a Mountie who reportedly said Colten Boushie deserved to die.
A report on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network said an RCMP officer on the Prairies posted the message, which maintained that 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, Sask., but was found not guilty by a jury last Friday.
A statement from RCMP National Headquarters in Ottawa says the social-media posting contravenes the force’s standards and that 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 titled “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 gaining access to the site.
Goodale said he has talked to the RCMP about what he calls an “absolutely appalling” remark.
“The facts are being determined and examined,” Goodale said.
“If they turn out to be what they appear to be, this is unacceptable and there will be consequences.”