Regina man left with injuries after alleged assault by Canadian Tire security guard | 24CA News
A Canadian Tire safety guard has been charged with assault following an alleged altercation with a buyer on May 23, 2023, on the North Albert Street location in Regina.
Ezekial Bigknife, a 24-year-old Indigenous man, stated he was within the retailer searching for automotive elements, when he was adopted round by workers.
“I noticed a security guard looking at me, and I just gave him a friendly nod… and I noticed two floor walkers following me,” Bigknife defined.
Though he says he was adopted by a minimum of 5 workers, Bigknife stated a supervisor a number of instances instructed the staff he was high quality to be there.
After looking for elements, Bigknife and one worker went to his truck to attempt to discover a correct repair for the issue. On his manner out to the truck, he says the safety guard hurled racial slurs.
He then pulled out his telephone to get the safety guard on digicam. He stated that was the second issues began to get bodily with three workers, together with the safety guard.
“The security guard grabbed both my arms and tried to force me to the ground,” he defined. “He punched me in the face and around my head.”
Bigknife stated he didn’t he hit him again.
“I knew if a First Nation guy punched back, I’d get charged with assault. My brother who was there, he didn’t intervene because he knew the same thing.”
However, Bigknife stated 10 minutes after he acquired dwelling, Regina Police arrived at his dwelling to arrest him for assault. He says after police noticed Bigknife’s video, mixed with safety footage from Canadian Tire, they declined to arrest him.
In a press release from Regina Police, they stated “as a result of the investigation, a 20-year-old male was charged with assault (and) will make his first appearance in court on this charge on July 10, 2023, at 9:30 a.m.”
A spokesperson for Canadian Tire stated they’re conscious of the altercation, and the safety guard concerned is not going to return to the shop.
“We take this matter seriously and stores have strict protocols and training programs in place with third-party representatives to ensure clear understandings of expectations on how to conduct business and treat customers with respect.”
Now just a few days later, Bigknife is left coping with the accidents.
He stated he has a hairline fracture in his hand, his shoulder is weak and may’t raise something, and consistently has a headache. He additionally has a scratch on his neck from when he was choked, a black eye and a busted-up nostril.
“I’ve now had to cancel business meetings with clients, because who wants to go to those meetings with a busted-up face.”
In 2017, one other Indigenous man, Kamao Cappo, was accused of stealing and pushed in opposition to a shelf earlier than being bodily faraway from a Canadian Tire in Regina. Five years later, he stated he’s nonetheless being watched shut in shops due to his background.
“They automatically assume the Indigenous person is there to steal,” Cappo stated. “The first thing in their mind is I’m a thief.”
He stated he empathizes with Bigknife and the racism he felt.
“It’s too bad they had to go through that grueling, embarrassing experience,” he stated.
In a examine performed by StatsCan, launched in 2022, they stated the commonest experiences of discrimination confronted by Indigenous individuals happens in shops, eating places or banks.
In phrases of subsequent steps for Bigknife, he stated he’s urgent additional fees in opposition to different workers concerned within the assault. He hopes to take a seat down with Canadian Tire to debate what occurred, and learn how to repair it heading ahead.
“At some point the systemic racism has to stop,” Bigknife stated.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
