Indigenous man highlights Canadian Tire altercation

Customer posted live video of employee grabbing him, pushing him up against shelf

Police in Regina are investigating and Canadian Tire has apologized after an Indigenous man livestreamed an altercation between him and one of the store employees. On Wednesday, Kamao Cappo posted a live video to Facebook that shows a Canadian Tire employee grabbing Cappo in an attempt to lead him out of the store and then pushing him up against a shelf.

Cappo told the Star he was at the store to buy a chainsaw, which he was about to purchase along with a can of oil, but wasn’t sure of the necessary fuel mix ratio for the machine.

After opening the chainsaw case to find out, he said he placed the oil inside, took it to customer service and went to look at other chainsaws.

He said a store employee then approached him and accused him of trying to steal.

In the video posted to Facebook, Cappo tells viewers the employee was refusing to sell him a saw, and was kicking him out of the store. The video shows Cappo asking the employee his name, and the employee grabbing for the camera.

“You can’t take a picture of me. It’s against the law to take a picture of me. You better delete the picture off the phone,” the employee says in the video. “I’m not giving you my name, you’re leaving the store. Get out. It’s private property, get out.”

After Cappo refused to leave, the employee pushed him against a shelf.

Cappo says he believes he was targeted because he is Indigenous.

“Indigenous people experience this a lot,” he said. “I knew that if I allowed him to do this, if I just comply and say I’m going, basically I’m saying ‘what you’re doing is right, this is fine’ and he

“I knew that if I allowed him to do this, if I just comply . . . he will do this to somebody else again.” KAMAO CAPPO INDIGENOUS CUSTOMER WHO LIVE-STREAMED HIS VISIT TO CANADIAN TIRE

will do this to somebody else again.”

Regina Police Staff Sgt. Shawn Fenwick said police have viewed the video in question and are investigating.

Fenwick said it’s unclear if Cappo’s ethnicity played a role.

“I don’t know the answer. I suppose it’s possible,” he said. “It is under investigation right now but I don’t have a lot of other information. It’s a priority for us right now.” Police have not laid any charges. In a statement, Canadian Tire said it regretted the incident.

“We sincerely apologize for the experience that occurred in our store and we are actively reviewing all of the facts surrounding this matter,” the statement read. “We are communicating with Mr. Cappo directly, and we hope to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”

Cappo said he has not heard from Canadian Tire since the incident and that the company has not called him to offer an apology.