Indigenous B.C. man alleges racial profiling and RCMP violence in mistaken arrest

RCMP officers in Coquitlam, B.C., are facing allegations of brutality during the mistaken arrest of a Nlaka'pamux man at an afternoon art show.

Chief Julian Shackelly has filed suit in B.C. Supreme Court alleging he suffered multiple injuries and long-lasting psychological damage in the arrest on Aug. 5, 2018 during an open house at Minnekhada Lodge.

His notice of claim says Mounties were responding to calls about a mentally disturbed person who was refusing to leave the building. It alleges that police pulled their guns on Shackelly and then pinned him to the ground, bashing his knee and hurting his back, ribs, face and hands.

"It really felt like I was racially profiled," Shackelly, a 51-year-old with long, black hair, told CBC News.

He said he was the only Indigenous person at the scene. The suspect was white.

Shackelly said he was scared he was going to die during the arrest, and the incident has left him with post-traumatic stress disorder .

"It gets me very angry and upset, and it affects my family life. I'm not a very pleasant person to be around because of these issues," Shackelly said.

Police do not deny arresting Shackelly and taking him to the ground. They acknowledge he was not the suspect they were looking for and say he received an apology from a supervising officer.

But in a response to Shackelly's claim filed earlier this month, the Crown denies the use of excessive force and says no one pointed their guns at Shackelly. The response alleges officers didn't have a description of the suspect, and that Shackelly was resisting arrest.

Coquitlam RCMP have declined to comment about the case. None of the allegations in either Shackelly's claim or the Crown's response have been proven in court.

Many of the details about what happened that day can be pieced together from Shackelly's notice of claim and the Crown's response.

CBC has also spoken with Maryam Rahnama, a spokesperson for Shackelly's non-profit arts organization, who says she witnessed the entire incident.

On the afternoon of Aug. 5, 2018, Minnekhada Lodge hosted an open house featuring the work of local artists.

At some point in the day, the lodge's caretaker called police about a man who had flooded the upper floor of the heritage house and was threatening to kill people, according to the Crown's response.