Winnipeg police have charged a security guard with assault after video surfacing online appeared to show him using brass knuckles to punch out a suspected shoplifter.
The 23-year-old guard was arrested Monday evening and charged with assault with a weapon, unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon and uttering threats after police became aware the assault was captured on camera.
Police said the case began when officers were called to a Dollarama discount store in the city’s downtown on Saturday, where they arrested a 46-year-old who had been detained by an on-duty security guard.
That man is accused of concealing $95 worth of merchandise and trying to leave the store before the guard intervened. That man was charged with robbery and uttering threats.
Later on, an onlooker posted a 90-second video on social media that appears to show the guard punching the man, who is laying on the ground, and threatening to kill him.
“Stay down or I’ll (expletive) kill you. Try me. Touch me you (expletive) idiot,” the guard is heard saying.
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The guard is also seen kicking the suspect amid a debris field of smashed shelving and potato chip bags while swearing at patrons urging him to stop the assault.
When an onlooker tries to intervene the guard swears at him and says “You want to go next?”
The guard appears to tell people looking that the man on the ground hit him first.
The guard was released on an undertaking and is expected to appear in court at a later date.
First Nations groups have condemned the acts depicted in the video. The man has not been identified but the groups say he is Indigenous.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the video raises serious questions about use-of-force practices and how First Nations people are treated in public spaces.
The advocacy group, which represents First Nations in the province, said it has filed a formal complaint with the province, which regulates the security industry.
It has requested an immediate review of the guard’s licensing status and the security company’s compliance history.
The Southern Chiefs’ Organization said this incident is not an isolated case and that First Nations people have experienced a troubling pattern of being profiled and subject to unsafe, discriminatory and degrading treatment in retail stores and other businesses.
The group is calling for an independent review of the incident that should examine use-of-force policies, de-escalation requirement and cultural safety training specific to First Nations peoples.
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