Canada reels from brutal arrest of indigenous chief

Canadian Prime Minister Justina Trudeau on Friday described a video showing officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arresting an indigenous chief as "shocking."

In the dashcam footage, an officer is seen tackling Chief Allan Adam and punching him in the face during a stop for an expired license plate. The altercation initially started when one officer put handcuffs on Adam's wife outside of a casino in Alberta province.

Brian Beresh, a lawyer representing Adam, said he has filed a motion to have the charges dropped against his client, saying his constitutional rights were violated.

"All of this resulted from an expired license plate tag," said Beresh. "The video speaks for itself."

Trudeau called for an independent probe to determine whether excessive force was used during the incident.

"Like many people, I have serious questions about what happened," said Trudeau during a press briefing. "The independent investigation must be carried out so that we get answers."

Read more: As media watch US uprisings, EU has a racism problem, too

'Not an isolated incident'

The video footage was released on the heels of US protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's death. Many Canadians had protested in solidarity with the movement, and Trudeau said Canadian institutions also struggle with systemic racism.

"We know that this is not an isolated incident," said Trudeau. "Far too many black Canadians and indigenous people do not feel safe around police. It's unacceptable. And as governments, we have to change that."

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki on Friday apologized for failing to acknowledge earlier that "systemic racism is part of every institution, the RCMP included." She had earlier balked at the remark first said by Trudeau last week.

"I struggled with the definition of systemic racism, while trying to highlight the great work done by the overwhelming majority of our employees," Lucki said. "I did not say definitely that systemic racism exists in the RCMP. I should have."

ls/stb (dpa, AFP)

Every evening, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.