adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Media

RCMP have denied report about been prepared to shoot Indigenous activists

Published

4 years ago

 on

RCMP officers clear a barricade set up by Wet’suwet’en members at a checkpoint near Houston, B.C., in January, 2019.

AMBER BRACKEN/The New York Times News Service

The RCMP are challenging a recent report that said its members were prepared to shoot Indigenous activists at a January, 2019, protest in northern B.C., saying it has found no documents or references that support that and other assertions in the report.

The RCMP statement, released Monday, was made in response to an article in the British-based Guardian last week that said Canadian police were prepared to shoot protesters and that RCMP commanders told officers to “use as much violence toward the gate as you want” in relation to a roadblock at the site.

The article was in relation to a protest where police enforced a B.C. Supreme Court injunction to clear a blockade that was built to protest the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

The proposed $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline would transport natural gas from northeast B.C. to a new $18-billion export terminal being built in coastal Kitimat, and it has been opposed by some Indigenous and environmental activists.

300x250x1

The report, published Friday, refers to documents it described as notes from a strategy session.

In its initial response Friday, the RCMP said it had asked to see the documents referenced in the Guardian article before it was published, but was denied, and had not had the opportunity to determine “in what context any of the alleged statements may have been made or by whom.”

On Monday, the force went further, saying it had since looked for any references that would back up assertions in the report but to date, hadn’t found any.

“The RCMP has commenced a review of all documents relating to the enforcement of the court-ordered injunction and to date, can find no documents or references, which reflect statements made in the [Guardian] article,” the RCMP statement says.

“Whatever the source, the assertions made in the article do not in any respect reflect the spirit and intent of the direction of the RCMP commanders charged with planning and carrying out the court’s direction, nor does it reflect what actually occurred,” the statement added.

The RCMP called the report “unsubstantiated, incomplete and inflammatory” and said it had damaged relationships between police and Indigenous communities.

The Guardian did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Monday, federal NDP safety critic Jack Harris called on the Canadian government to conduct a “full and independent investigation and inquiry” into police strategies and tactics used at the January protest.

“I trust that you were as disturbed as I was to read that senior members in the chain of command of the RCMP had discussed such extreme violence … in response to a civilian protest,” Mr. Harris said in a Monday letter to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.

“We are committed to protecting the constitutional right to peaceful protest and are concerned by the unacceptable words and phrases that the Guardian reported were used,” Scott Bardsley, a spokesman for the minister said in an e-mail. He added that Mr. Blair’s office has raised the matter with the RCMP.

In a separate request, NDP MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, Taylor Bachrach, on Friday asked the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission to conduct an independent review of the RCMP’s planning and actions related to the protest.

Karla Tait, director of programming at the Unist’ot’en healing lodge, near the site of the protest, and a spokeswoman for some of the protesters, on Monday said a federal inquiry would be appropriate, given that the RCMP is funded with public money and has a duty to protect all members of the public, including Indigenous people.

Source link

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Media

Taylor Swift's new album apparently leaks, causing social media chaos – CBC News

Published

5 hours ago

 on

April 18, 2024

By


The hype for Taylor Swift’s new album went into overdrive as it appeared to leak online two days ahead of its Friday release.

Swifties started sharing tracks on X that they claimed were from the singer’s upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, saying they came from a Google Drive link containing all 17 songs.

Some fans were upset by the leak and said they would wait until Friday to listen while others started frantically posting fake links on X to bury the “real” tracks.

300x250x1

“Raise your hand if ur an ACTUAL Taylor Swift fan and aren’t listening to leaks,” one user wrote.

Several media outlets reported that X briefly blocked the search term “Taylor Swift leak” on Wednesday.

CBC has reached out to Swift’s publicist for comment.

Swift announced the release, her 11th studio album and the first with all new songs since 2022’s Midnights, at the Grammy Awards ceremony in February.

Fans have been speculating about the lyrical themes that would appear on The Tortured Poets Department, based in part on a physical “library installation” that opened Tuesday in Los Angeles, curated with items that drop hints and references to the inspirations behind the album.

Swift’s 2022 album Midnights, which featured the hit Anti-Hero, also leaked online ahead of its scheduled release date, and went on to win the Grammy for album of the year. Swift’s previous albums 1989, Reputation and Lover also leaked ahead of their official releases. 

The singer is in the midst of her billion-dollar-grossing Eras tour, which is moving through the U.S. and is scheduled to conclude in Vancouver in December. 

Swift was added to Forbes magazine’s annual new billionaires list earlier this month, with Forbes saying she was the first musician to become a billionaire based solely on her songs and performances. 

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Media

DJT Stock Jumps. The Truth Social Owner Is Showing Stockholders How to Block Short Sellers. – Barron's

Published

6 hours ago

 on

April 18, 2024

By


[unable to retrieve full-text content]

DJT Stock Jumps. The Truth Social Owner Is Showing Stockholders How to Block Short Sellers.  Barron’s

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Media

Taylor Swift's new album allegedly 'leaked' on social media and it's causing a frenzy – CTV News

Published

7 hours ago

 on

April 18, 2024

By


Social media can be a divisive place, but even more so when it comes to Taylor Swift.

A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift’s eagerly awaited “The Tortured Poets Department” album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.

CNN has reached out to Swift’s representative for comment.

300x250x1

The actual album is slated to drop at midnight Friday, but the claimed leak is both being hailed and nailed by Swift’s supporters.

One person shared a drawing of a young woman asleep in a sparkly bed with sparkly blankets on X, writing, “How I slept last night knowing I’m going to hear TTPD for the very first time tonight cause I haven’t listened to any leaks.”

Yet another person posted a video of two models walking and wrote, “Me and my bestie on our way to listen to #TSTTPD leaks.”

On Thursday, “Taylor Swift leaks” was a prevented search phrase on X.

The general consensus among those who have decided to be “leak free” appears to be that they are the true Swifties – as her hard core fan base is known – because they don’t believe the singer would have sanctioned such a “leak.”

Swift herself has gone to great lengths to prevent unintended early releases in the past.

“I have a lot of maybe, maybe-not-irrational fears of security invasion, wiretaps, people eavesdropping,” Swift said of her music during an 2014 appearance on” Jimmy Kimmel Live.” She added that her “1989” album only existed on her phone, “covered in cat stickers and the volume buttons don’t work very well because there’s candy stuck in there,” for nearly two years.

“The Tortured Poets Department” is Swift’s 11th album and comes after she became the first woman and only solo artist to win the Grammy for album of the year three times.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending