First Nation calls for suspension of RCMP officer over social media posts

A First Nation member in British Columbia is calling for the suspension and termination of a Bella Bella RCMP officer over social media posts he made before joining the Mounties.

Marilyn Slett, chief of the Heiltsuk Tribal Council, says in a letter to the RCMP’s Bella Bella detachment that the officer posted “racist text and images.”

Supt.-Cmdr. Brian Edmonds of the RCMP North District said in a statement that police are aware of the concerns and that a “non-conduct-related administrative proceeding” is underway against the officer.

Slett’s letter includes images of social media posts showing a white man wearing an afro wig with the caption “BLACK AND PROUD.”

Another social media post shows a man in a colonial-style uniform in front of a Union Jack, with the comment: “Now what can we do about these pesky natives causing trouble in the colonies?”

Slett says Heiltsuk leadership met with RCMP officers earlier this week, but the officer remains on duty in Bella Bella.

She said officials with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had informed them that a transfer process for the officer was underway, but that it could take 45 to 90 days.

“It is unacceptable for police officers serving in Indigenous communities to hold such attitudes,” Slett’s letter to the department said. “This is an urgent public safety issue. Our nation does not tolerate racism in our community.”

Edmonds said in his statement Friday that the RCMP was “determined to strike the right balance between addressing the concerns through a fair process and the importance of the trust of individuals and the community in their police officers and the RCMP.”

Edmonds said the social media posts were made “approximately nine to 17 years” before the officer joined the RCMP.

Recently, there have been tensions between Heiltsuk and the police.

Maxwell Johnson, a member of the Heiltsuk Nation, was wrongfully arrested and handcuffed outside a Vancouver bank along with his then 12-year-old granddaughter in 2019, leading to a human rights complaint against the Vancouver Police Board.

After an agreement was reached, a trauma healing ceremony was held in the community in 2022.

However, the two police officers who arrested Johnson and his granddaughter were not present, prompting a Heiltsuk police chief to return a gift he received at the ceremony from Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2024.