Threats prompt temporary closure of Winnipeg hotel at centre of video showing restrained woman: manager
CBC
A downtown Winnipeg hotel that has faced controversy over a social media video showing a young woman from a northern Manitoba First Nation being restrained in the lobby is temporarily closed due to threats being made against it.
The general manager of the Marlborough Hotel confirmed to CBC News that it was closed on Wednesday because staff and management have been receiving threats.
"This is extremely unsettling to our staff and management who fear for their safety," Rakib Hoque said in an emailed statement.
"To protect all guests, our staff and the public, we took the extraordinary step of temporarily closing the hotel today as police continue to investigate."
Hoque said the hotel remained closed as of Wednesday evening.
The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed to CBC News that officers were at the hotel on Wednesday with regards to a threat. A police spokesperson could not say how that threat was communicated, or provide more detail on what the threat was.
The video, which was shot on Dec. 25 but shared more widely on social media in the past week, shows a woman with her hands bound behind her back repeatedly trying to leave the hotel while several men prevented her from doing so.
The woman, who is seen crying with her hands restrained behind her back, then walks toward the front door as one of the men tries to direct her away from it. She can be heard calling him a "pervert," saying she was punched in the face and touched in her "private spot."
The woman in the video had allegedly held a knife and attempted to stab a hotel staff member, before another employee put zip ties on her until police arrived, according to Const. Claude Chancy of the Winnipeg Police Service.
She was later arrested and charged with assault with a weapon, police said.
An investigation into the woman's allegations of abuse by hotel staff in the video is also underway.
On Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered inside the Marlborough Hotel's lobby to show support for the woman and demand answers about what happened.
Some Indigenous organizations, including the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, have moved members who were staying at the Marlborough to other hotels, or advised their members they don't have to stay there if they don't want to.
The woman in the video was staying at the hotel for a medical appointment and has since returned to her home community, which is a First Nation in northern Manitoba, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick told CBC earlier this week.
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