One of Chantel Moore91裸聊视频檚 grandmothers says her granddaughter91裸聊视频檚 isn91裸聊视频檛 the first time she has lost a family member to police violence.

Nora Martin joins other Indigenous families in calling for a significant shift to the way authorities interact with racialized communities amidst a broad history of brutality.

91裸聊视频淲e really need to work together to change this whole system,91裸聊视频� she said in an interview from Tofino. 91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e been dealing with racism all our lives.91裸聊视频�

Martin said her family has endured generations of racism and trauma at the hands of authorities and is calling for lasting change to end the pattern.

Moore, 26, died Thursday when police arrived at her home in response to a request to check on her well-being. Edmundston police say their officer encountered a woman with a knife making threats. She was shot and died at the scene.

READ MORE:

The story makes no sense to Martin, who said Moore didn91裸聊视频檛 have a mean bone in her body and was too petite to have posed any real danger to an armed officer.

Martin is the sister of Moore91裸聊视频檚 biological grandmother but says she is considered a grandmother in their Tla-o-qui-aht culture.

91裸聊视频淲hat struck me right away when I heard that was that it has a lot to do with what91裸聊视频檚 happening in the United States with the black people getting killed,91裸聊视频� Martin said.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檝e had that happen here in our own country for years now and that was my first thought, that this is racially motivated.91裸聊视频�

More than 50 years ago, Martin91裸聊视频檚 grandfather suffered a broken neck while in police custody, she said.

Another relative died 10 to 12 years ago in police custody, too. There was an investigation and recommendations made, she said, but nothing changed.

The violence isn91裸聊视频檛 limited to police action. Martin said she and her relatives went to residential school, day school and foster care.

91裸聊视频淲e all went through the system where we were horribly abused physically, emotionally and sexually,91裸聊视频� she said.

She91裸聊视频檚 also been called a 91裸聊视频渄umb, lazy Indian,91裸聊视频� she said, even though she has held a job since age 14 and pays her taxes every year.

Rather than revenge, Martin said she wants justice and peace.

91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 go around hating people, I91裸聊视频檝e never attacked a white person because of how they treated me,91裸聊视频� she said.

Martin said Moore had a huge family that loved her.

Moore was set to begin classes at a community college when she was killed, Martin said.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs warned against assuming a family is criminal just because it has been victimized by police multiple times. To assume so would be 91裸聊视频渧ery racist91裸聊视频� and lies at the heart of police brutality against people of colour and the poor, he said.

91裸聊视频淧overty is not a crime, colour is not a crime. Yet the racist attitudes that permeate and are deeply entrenched in the attitudes and values of Canadian society suggest that all people of colour or people who are poor are criminal and should automatically expect to be harassed by police,91裸聊视频� Phillip said.

Phillip says what happened to Moore is 91裸聊视频渁bsolutely outrageous and horrific.91裸聊视频�

Officers who pull the trigger should be immediately pulled off the force, but they rarely face adequate consequences, he said.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e been in enough court rooms in my life to know that the legal defence is 91裸聊视频業 feared for my life,91裸聊视频� and they get away with it. In some cases, they get suspended for a day or two or a week.

91裸聊视频淭here needs to be severe consequences for the use of deadly force to the point where it will never happen.91裸聊视频�

Martin91裸聊视频檚 experience was echoed by the family of an Indigenous man who died three years ago in police custody in Prince George.

Dale Culver of the Gitxsan and Wet91裸聊视频檚uwet91裸聊视频檈n Nations was 35 when he died in July 2017.

A police release at the time says officers responded to a report of a man casing cars and they chased a man on a bicycle who fled from the scene. A struggle ensued, more officers were called, and pepper spray was used. Medical support was called when officers noticed Culver was having trouble breathing, he died soon after.

The BC Prosecution Service is considering charges against five officers involved in the incident, after receiving a report last week from police watchdog the Independent Investigations Office, or the IIO.

The RCMP say in a statement they will continue to support the officers, who remain on duty, and its thoughts are with the family.

In April, the IIO announced a new investigation into the death in custody of Everett Patrick, whom the family has identified as Culver91裸聊视频檚 cousin.

The office says in a release that RCMP reported that on April 12, officers responded to an alarm at a sports store. After hours of negotiating, Patrick was apprehended, medically cleared at the hospital and taken to the Prince George detachment cells. Hours later, he went into medical distress and was taken back to hospital, where he was found to be suffering serious injury. On April 20, the watchdog was notified that Patrick died in hospital.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 not a lot of faith in the RCMP in Prince George right now, at least from us and our family,91裸聊视频� said Tracy Speed, the mother of Culver91裸聊视频檚 daughter Lily Speed-Namox.

Speed-Namox said she wants to see police forces earn the trust of racialized communities.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 been some kind of trust between the people and the RCMP that has been broken and we need to be able to find a way to mend that trust so that there is no issue between any kind of race and the RCMP.91裸聊视频�

Amy Smart, The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on .

Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation