Videos taken by a teenage girl at Luxton Fairgrounds this past weekend show perhaps shocking footage of volunteer security guards as they attempt to escort the girls out of the fair.
On Saturday, September 14th, a group of girls attended the Luxton Fall Fair with a few of them sneaking in alcohol. Among them were 16-year-old Kayleigh Byron and 18-year-old Summer Williams.
See also: Video of security guards restraining a man at Uptown goes viral (VIDEO)
According to Kayleigh’s father, Daniel Byron, staff at the fair observed Summer throwing empty alcohol cans into recycling bins and suspected that she was intoxicated. Soon after, the group was asked to leave the fair.
“She started walking away when [volunteer security guards], rather than letting her leave peacefully, they grabbed her by either side of her arms when she was already outside of the property and slammed her down to the ground,” Byron tells Victoria Buzz.
“You can see the terror in her face because she’s being manhandled by these grown adults.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t kick the shit out of you”
As the girl is restrained by event staff, she can be heard yelling profanities and is clearly intoxicated, which Byron says is unacceptable behaviour. However, he states that the consequences of their behaviour is being dealt with by their parents at home.
“Summer’s language is unacceptable, even with her family that I’ve spoken to. But given the circumstances, she’s a 17-year-old girl being held down by two grown men and she’s freaked,” says Byron.
The incident was recorded by his daughter Kayleigh Byron despite several of the volunteer guards attempting to stop her from filming.
At one point, Kayleigh stepped in to record the situation and stop one of the guards from putting their hands on Summer’s neck while she was restrained on the ground.
That is when a third staff member rushed forward, cursing “That’s enough you little f***ing shit,” and placed her in a headlock before eventually releasing her.
After letting Kayleigh go, the guard can be heard saying “You’re lucky I didn’t kick the shit out of you.”
The aftermath
“There’s no law against filming authority, – especially in North America right now – of abuse of authority, and violence by authority,” says Daniel Byron.
“It’s definitely important for my daughter to have been filming, and it was illegal for [the guard] to have tried to take her phone away.”
Soon after, a member of West Shore RCMP can be seen arriving and arresting Summer Williams. According to Byron, she was later released to a family member. Meanwhile the other girls in the group were immediately released.
He says Kayleigh is a bit sore on account of being put in a headlock, but is mostly shaken up as she has never experienced such treatment from an adult before.
Summer Williams has bruises all over her body, cuts on her arms, and a goosebump on her head as a result of the altercation. Nevertheless, Byron says she returned to work on Sunday night and went back to school on Monday.
“It would be nice to see if the people that they [Luxton Fairgrounds] put in charge of protecting people were actually properly trained, and told what was within their rights to do. Especially when families and young people are involved, this seems short-sighted and irresponsible,” says Byron.
RCMP and Luxton Fairgrounds respond
Kayleigh’s videos, shared by her dad on social media, have been circulated by hundreds of people, most of whom expressed shock at the events captured on camera.
In response, the Metchosin Farmer’s Institute issued a statement on the Luxton Fairgrounds Facebook page, expressing their awareness of the “altercation between the security company hired for the event and allegedly intoxicated individual on the fairgrounds last night.”
The statement goes on to try and absolve Metchosin Farmer’s Institute of any responsibility by arguing that no members of the Fair were involved in the incident.
West Shore RCMP have launched an assault investigation in the aftermath of the altercation, and Cpl. Chris Dovell tells Victoria Buzz that officers will be reviewing cell phone videos as part of their investigation.
According to Cpl. Dovell’s accounts, police attended the scene to stop an altercation between several intoxicated youth and on site security.
Check out the cell phone footage below:
Warning: These videos contain graphic language and violent material that may not be suitable for all viewers.
https://www.facebook.com/Skipthedouches/posts/10162209214955640?__tn__=H-R
