A group of Indigenous youth are filing a complaint against the Victoria Police Department after being arrested for occupying the offices of the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources on January 21st.
The complaint is being filed with the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) with regards to the amount of force used by VicPD. The police carried protestors out of the building one by one, after the activists had been in the offices for over 18 hours.
In a press conference held on Wednesday, January 29th, the group of protestors claimed that “multiple injuries” had been sustained in the process of being arrested.
Victoria Police have denied those claims, saying there were no injuries.
The protestors were occupying the offices to show support with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, demanding respect for sovereignty and an end to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northern B.C.
They started their sit-in at 11:00 a.m., until they were forcibly carried out of the building in the early morning of the 23rd.
See more: Indigenous youth speak out about arrests made during protests at Victoria government offices
“The response of the police…is concerning.”
In a press release, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs offered their support to the youth and criticized the police’s response.
“The response of the police toward peaceful Indigenous youth is concerning given recent reports on the over-representation of Indigenous individuals within the Canadian Justice system,” stated Chief Don Tom, Tsartlip First Nation and Vice-President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.
“Less recorded but viscerally felt, is the impact of such conduct on Indigenous people who are upholding their own Indigenous law and protecting inherent title and rights,” the statement read.
In a phone call with Victoria Buzz, Chief Del Manak of the Victoria Police Department said his officers would fully cooperate with any investigation.
Manak said that his officers responded with an appropriate amount of force to apprehend protestors who wanted to be arrested.
“It was unfortunate that the protestors were motivated to be arrested and to confront police with a level of violence [and] verbal and physical abuse,” Manak said.
“I can tell you that police officers responded to the level of behaviour and non-compliance that they were met with by using force,” Manak added, “but it was as much force as was necessary to carry out their legal duties.”
The OPCC confirmed to Victoria Buzz that they had received multiple complaints regarding the sit-in and the use of police force.
The office said that the complaints are currently under review and any decisions made regarding the complaints will be announced “very shortly.”
