Sask. man says he was held to the ground, kneed in the head as his daughter looked on
An Indigenous Saskatchewan man says he was assaulted in an unprovoked attack in front of his young daughter.
Colby Tootoosis, 40, says three men attacked him in Battleford when he was dropping off a trailer at a friend’s house Sunday evening.
He says three white men got out of vehicles and demanded back stolen property; a cell phone, bag and pants. He says one of the men said they’d tracked the cell phone to that location.
“I looked in the direction he was pointing to and I figured that I would help him find it, as I know the owners and I was already mentally preparing to contact them to let them know of the situation,” Tootoosis said in a written statement.
Tootoosis says his six-year-old daughter was waiting in the truck as he unhooked the flat-deck trailer he borrowed from Eleanore Sunchild.
He says the verbal assault was followed by a punch in the face by the man he was talking to.
“As I fell forward the same man grabbed my braid and used it to keep me held to the ground. He then hit the back of my head with his knee. Blood was spilling out of my nose and mouth,” Tootoosis said.
He sought medical care at the hospital after the incident and he’s at home still recovering.
He says he took photos of the vehicle as it drove away and provided them to police.
Sunchild said her yard is located on the southeast edge of Battleford near an open field of municipal property.
Her 13-year-old son was in the house at the time and she’s worried that the same thing could have happened to him if he had been in the yard, she said.
Sunchild is also the lawyer for Colten Boushie’s family. She says ever since the acquittal of Biggar area farmer Gerald Stanley in 2018, racist attacks on the Prairies have been on the rise.
Stanley had been charged with second-degree murder in connection to the shooting death of Boushie.
“I’ve seen these sorts of incidents where people take to vigilante justice. I’ve seen those incidents against Indigenous people and often it goes badly and someone gets terribly hurt. And to see that level of violence right in my own backyard against my friend is just appalling and shocking,” said Sunchild.
Officers were dispatched to a home in the 100 block of 17th Street East in Battleford at 6:50 p.m. July 17, RCMP said in a statement.
“Charges have not been laid at this time and North Battleford RCMP are continuing their investigation into this incident, including working to identify and locate the suspects involved."
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is calling on the RCMP to “lay all appropriate charges in this matter.”
“This was an unprovoked racial attack,” said FSIN Vice Chief Dutch Lerat.
Tootoosis said in his statement that his daughter is continuing to process emotional traumatic distress.
“This was uncalled for. I am not ok and I am not ok that this happened ... So often we hear stories of violence like what happened to me and many Indigenous peoples choose not to speak out or address it. This is an encouragement for all our relatives out there who are experiencing ongoing settler-colonial violence to stop tolerating it.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
BREAKING McGill University seeks emergency injunction to remove pro-Palestinian encampment from campus
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.