Nuu-chah-nulth council ‘outraged’ after no charges in Chantel Moore case

PORT ALBERNI (NEWS 1130) — The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council issued a statement late Monday, saying it is outraged at the news the New Brunswick officer will not be charged over Chantel Moore’s death.

Earlier on Monday, New Brunswick’s Public Prosecutions Services says no criminal charges will be filed against the police officer who fatally shot Moore a year ago, saying the evidence showed the officer was responding to a potentially lethal threat and his actions were reasonable under the circumstances.

“This reality is reflective of Canada’s persisting colonization and genocidal practices. No one deserves to be gunned down on a wellness check,” says a statement from the council.

We will not stop in getting Justice for #ChantelMoore. Her mother is considering a civil law suit, there are the Police Act complaints & coroners inquest. We will continue to press for changes to address the systemic racism that is so embedded in policing https://t.co/QmIns6NdIZ

— Judith Sayers (@kekinusuqs) June 8, 2021

Moore, a 26-year-old Indigenous woman, was shot by a member of the Edmundston Police Force during a wellness check on June 4, 2020. Investigators said at the time that the shooting occurred after the young woman approached the officer with a knife in her hand.

In the statement, the tribal council demands Canada do more to end “the violence and killing of our people, particularly our women and girls, who are grossly overrepresented as victims of violence.”

the council is continuing to call on the RCMP to change their excessive force guidelines, the roles of police/RCMP in wellness checks, cultural safety training for all police/RCMP and to use trauma-informed teams.

It is also calling for Indigenous oversight anytime an Indigenous person is harmed or killed by police in Canada.

Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President Judith Sayers says it was only the police officer’s statement that the Crown depended on for evidence.

“I have never understood how an armed, large police officer was scared of a 5 foot, 100 pound woman with a small knife in her hand if she had one. Shooting four times is excessive force by anyone’s standards except the Crown counsel.”

Vice-president Mariah Charleson says, “When an officer guns down one of our members on a ‘wellness check’ and the result is death with no repercussions’, accountability, nor change to policy, it allows genocide to persist and we cannot stand for it any longer.”

Related articles:

• Mother still seeking answers a year after Chantel Moore killed by N.B. police

• Indigenous leaders demand change after RCMP shooting of Tla-o-qui-aht mother

The statement says that Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council will not stop to find justice for Chantel Moore, adding that Moore’s mother is considering a civil lawsuit.

“We will continue to press for changes to address the systemic racism that is so embedded in policing.

Quebec’s independent police watchdog, known as the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, investigated the case because New Brunswick does not have its own police oversight agency.

– With files from The Canadian Press