53-year-old Kamao Cappo is caught up in something he has longed feared: he’s been accused of theft while shopping. It happened Wednesday afternoon at the Canadian Tire store on Prince of Wales Drive.
Cappo posted the experience live on Facebook. In the video, it appears Cappo is confronted by a man he believes is a store manager.
He was accused of stealing and allegedly assaulted. In less than 24-hours, the video went viral and has been shared thousands of times.
“When you’re Indigenous, you know you’re going to get followed. So you are very careful not to make it look like you’re stealing,” Cappo said.
“To be accused like that, to be assaulted like that simply because of your [skin] colour, is devastating.”
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Canadian Tire told Global News in a statement:
“We sincerely apologize for the experience that occurred in our store and we are actively reviewing all of the facts surrounding this matter. We are communicating with Mr. Cappo directly, and we hope to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
Brandy Maxi is also Indigenous. She said she came to the store to shame the retailer and show support for Cappo.
“You can follow around any First Nations person any day and experience that sort of racism… following and suspicion,” Maxi said.
“I actually will take out my money to literally show that I have money, and that I’m here to purchase something. I’m here to be a customer and I’m not here as a thief. It’s so common that I literally have to do that, and I shouldn’t have to do that.”
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Regina Lawyer Sharon Fox says in instances like this one, staff have to establish that a theft has occurred.
“There are citizen arrest powers to stop the person and get them to wait, normal procedure is to call the police and have the police deal with it. But again that didn’t happen here, so it’s quite confusing as to why the individual was asked to leave the store.”
Fox says it would be helpful to know more about what happened before Cappo hit record. Regardless, she says people in this situation can go to the police and can file a complaint with the human rights commission.
Cappo has gone to the police alleging an assault.