Heiltsuk Nation says an RCMP officer is being transferred out of the community following claims of him making racist comments and posts on social media.
“We want to thank our community for reporting the racist Facebook posts and for raising their voices against racism and calling for accountability,” Heiltsuk Nation elected Chief Marilyn Slett said Thursday in an emailed release.
The Nation says the officer will be leaving the community this weekend, “and from now until his departure, will not be working another shift in Bella Bella.”
RCMP shared the news with Heiltsuk joint leadership on Wednesday, the Nation says.
It comes less than a week after the Heiltsuk shared the posts on the officer’s personal account, and days after Heiltsuk members protested outside of the RCMP detachment in Bella Bella on May 24.
The social media posts – shared with media by Heiltsuk Nation – included one photo of the officer posing in front of the Union Jack in colonial regalia with the comment, “Now, whats [sic] to be done about these pesky natives stirring up trouble in the colonies…?” Another post included two selfies of him in a black afro with, with his hand raised in a fist, with the captions “Black and Proud” and “where’s my pick comb?”
So they didn’t fire this guy, they transferred him?
Well, yeah, he’s just following standard RCMP training. You can’t fault someone for doing as they’re taught…
And, just to clarify, the RCMP are clearly signaling that this behavior is acceptable by not leveraging any actual disciplinary action.
I have two family members who are cops. Play-acting as a figure from the past in their past isn’t part of their training curriculum. For one thing it’d need a time machine.
Kevin Hart understands.
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