he Serious Incident Report Team (SIRT) has found that the killing of a civilian by RCMP police in Eastern Passage last summer was justified, given the circumstances. However, the SIRT summary report, as is so often the case, raises questions that remain unanswered. Meanwhile, media in Nova Scotia typically merely echo the SIRT conclusion.
Tony Smith, who was hired by SIRT to provide a Black perspective to counterbalance an entirely white investigative team, believes the Santina Rao investigation was seriously flawed and that the report’s conclusions were incorrect.
It’s ok to violently assault a young Black mother, as long as she gets upset when she is accused of shoplifting. That’s the conclusion of the Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) report on the arrest of Santina Rao at the Walmart in Halifax in January.
Stephen McNeil Stephen McNeil twists in the wind – while Nova Scotians ramp up their demand for an inquiry, writes Judy Haiven.
It took more than a day after the attack on Santina Rao for Halifax Regional Police to report the incident to SIRT, the organization that is tasked with investigating all such violent incidents. Toronto author and journalist Desmond Cole looked into the delay.
On what surely must have been the coldest day this winter some 150 people came out to rally at the Mumford Road Walmart in support of Santina Rao.
Bradley Thomas Clattenburg was killed by three police officers after he pointed a gun at them. Earlier we wrote about a resident in long term care facility who died of a heart attack while in a scuffle with a RCMP police officer. In both cases the person who died had severe mental health issues. SIRT, the agency that investigates these deaths, leaves too many questions unanswered. We need formal inquests.
A quick update on the shameful practice of carding in Halifax. The Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission is looking into it, but it is early day.
Black activists write a letter asking that carding be stopped, and nobody in power wants to talk about it. No way, says the chief of police. Can’t have politicians telling the police what to do, says Stephen McNeil. “Fix the tool, don’t throw out the toolbox,” says mayor Savage.
A recent resident of Valley View Villa, a long term care facility in Riverton, Pictou County, died of a heart attack during a scuffle with a police officer. We know what happened, but questions remain. Could his death have been prevented?