Chantel Moore Shot and
Killed by Police in Edmundston, New Brunswick
Not One More Life! End State Organized Racist Attacks and Police Violence
On June 4, Chantel Moore was shot and killed by
police in Edmundston, New Brunswick. Twenty-six years old, Chantel was
a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht/Nuu-chah-nulth Nation on Vancouver
Island. Her young daughter has lost her mother and her large family and
circle of friends have lost a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend.
In a period of less than three months since April,
at least five Indigenous people have been killed by police. Chantel
Moore. Rodney Levi. Eishia Hudson. Jason Collins. Stewart Kevin Andrews.
Another Indigenous man, Everett Patrick, died in
police custody. Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black-Indigenous woman, fell
to her death from her balcony in Toronto while police were in her home.
In addition, there is the incident of an Indigenous man deliberately
struck by a police vehicle in Nunavut, captured on video for the world
to see.
 In the case of
Chantel, even as police chiefs and establishment forces hasten to
distance themselves from accusations of racism, there are once again
conflicting stories from the police and what the family saw as evidence
at the scene. Brutal facts of life are kept hidden behind suggestions
that this killing is not the rule but an exception, an aberration --
"something that does not follow the correct or expected course or
something that is not typical or normal." An aberrant cop, aberrant
circumstances, an aberrant incident -- an undesirable outcome.
Judith Sayers, from the Hupacasath First Nation in
Port Alberni, BC and President of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council,
writes in The Tyee:[1]
"The police officer who came after midnight to do
a wellness check was pounding on her door to wake her up. Police had
been sent to check on her because of concerns she was being harassed.
"Imagine being in your own apartment with someone
banging on your door in the middle of the night. Police say she had a
knife in her hand. Is it any wonder she had felt the need to protect
herself, if that was the case?
"The family fails to understand how a large police
officer couldn't fend off a smaller woman without shooting her, and why
he had no ability to de-escalate the situation. There were no
witnesses, so all we have is the police officer's statement. No one can
speak for Chantel. This just is not right. This is not acceptable by
anyone's standard. It is wrong. It should never have happened."
Sayers raises the most important question on
everyone's minds: "Many are crying out for justice for Chantel, but
what does that look like?" she asks.
Sayers raises the outcome everyone desires: "[...]
Justice for Chantel means that senseless shootings of Indigenous
Peoples must stop and never happen again. We must change the way Canada
does policing, as it obviously is not working."
Amongst other things, Sayers underscores the need
to have "trained, unarmed, non-violent first responders respond to
crisis situations involving wellness checks, mental health and
addictions -- not police. We need people who know how to work with
individuals with mental health issues and teams of people trained to
deal with wellness checks and mental health incidents."
Sayers points out that for Indigenous peoples,
"this is an act of self-determination. We must determine how we care
for our communities and our people. And that must reflect and
acknowledge the legacy of colonialism and the underfunding of
education, housing, health and economic development in our communities.
"Indigenous Peoples must be involved in this
re-evaluation to change policing in the communities we live in. We must
re-examine the First Nations Policing Program and invest in
self-administered Indigenous alternatives. We must also stress the
importance of investment in economic and social programs for on and
off-reserve members."
Pointing out that at the foundation of this police
violence is colonialism, Sayers writes: "This violence is a stark
reminder that the historical role of policing in forcibly controlling
and displacing Indigenous Peoples continues to this day. Indigenous
Peoples are disproportionately brutalized, criminalized and killed as a
result of policing in Canada. What is our crime? Being Indigenous.
"We ask all Canadians to support Indigenous
Peoples and demand action from the Canadian and provincial governments
in policing. We must make our homes and communities safe and not have
to fear police violence.
"We are at a turning point. We must recognize this
violence as a problem and work together as nations to say enough is
enough. Not one more life."
TML Weekly expresses its
deepest sympathies to Chantel's family, friends and nation. We condole
with all those who suffer as a result of the brutal deaths of family
and community members and demand an end be put to state-organized
racist attacks and police violence.
Note
1. "A
Nation Mourns for Chantel Moore," Judith Sayers, The Tyee,
June 17, 2020.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 22 - June 20, 2020
Article Link:
Chantel Moore Shot and
Killed by Police in Edmundston, New Brunswick: Not One More Life! End State Organized Racist Attacks and Police Violence
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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