Source: The Guardian<\/p>\n
Link:\u00a0https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2016\/aug\/16\/racial-tensions-flare-sasketchewan-shooting-indigenous-colten-boushie-first-nations<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Farmer, 54 charged with second-degree murder of Colten Boushie, who was shot dead in a car in the Canadian province<\/p>\n
After an afternoon spent swimming in a Saskatchewan river, five friends piled into the car for the 50-minute ride home.<\/p>\n
As they headed to the Red Pheasant First Nation, a tyre blew out. They pulled into a nearby farm, hoping to find someone who could help them.<\/p>\n
Their account of what happened next has ignited racial tensions in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and laid bare the divide that exists between some communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden some guy, he just came out and he just smashed our windshield,\u201d said Eric Meechance, one of the car\u2019s occupants.<\/p>\n
Panicked and struggling to see past the cracked windshield, the driver tried to leave the farmyard. Instead, he struck a parked vehicle, Meechance told\u00a0local radio station News Talk 650.<\/a><\/p>\n Meechance and the driver got out and ran for safety. Seconds later gunshots rang out. The farmer had a gun, Meechance\u00a0told the Canadian Press.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cHe wasn\u2019t shooting to scare us. He was shooting to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n He later found out that his friend, Colten Boushie, 22, had been fatally shot in the vehicle.<\/p>\n The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the five friends were confronted after they drove on private property last Tuesday. A verbal exchange followed and a shot was fired, striking one of the people in the car.<\/p>\n A 54-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder and is expected to appear in court later this week.<\/p>\n Fundraising campaigns have raised thousands of dollars for those affected by the incident. A campaign to help Boushie\u2019s family cover the cost of the funeral and related expenses\u00a0has raised C$21,000<\/a>\u00a0(\u00a312,600), while another campaign has raised nearly C$14,000 to help the wife of the farmer accused of second-degree murder.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch of the farming community around us who know this family know they are loving and deserving of some help through a difficult time,\u201d\u00a0Tasha Dwayne wrote in explaining her decision<\/a>\u00a0to set up a GoFundMe page.<\/p>\n The tragedy has been aggravated by the RCMP\u2019s response to the incident, say First Nation leaders, as well as a torrent of racist comments posted on social media.<\/p>\n One day after the shooting, the RCMP issued a news release stating that three occupants of the car had been taken into custody as part of a related theft investigation and another male was being sought. All were released without charges and the investigation is ongoing.<\/p>\n The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, which represents more than 70 First Nations in Saskatchewan, called it a biased press release.<\/p>\n \u201cThe news release the RCMP issued the following day provided just enough prejudicial information for the average reader to draw their own conclusions that the shooting was somehow justified,\u201d Chief Bobby Cameron said.<\/p>\n The organisation called for a review of the RCMP\u2019s communication policies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe media\u2019s initial portrayal of the event made the incident sound like a crime was about to be committed by the passengers in the car,\u201d said Chief Clint Wuttunee, of the Red Pheasant First Nation, whose daughter was also in the car.<\/p>\n \u201cThe media based their reports on the RCMP\u2019s news release.\u201d<\/p>\n Within hours the RCMP responded, saying it was concerned about the claims of bias. \u201cWe will be reaching out to them,\u201d said Rob Cameron, of the organisation. \u201cWe now have a chance to hear their concerns and work together and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Robert Innes, a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Saskatchewan, described the situation as a \u201creal example of the racial tensions that exist in Saskatchewan\u201d.<\/p>\n