Graffiti, protest mar early days of World Police and Fire Games
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/07/2023 (818 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The 2023 World Police and Fire Games were marred by a series of weekend incidents, including a foreign police official being bear-sprayed, a half-marathon route painted with graffiti, and a protest outside the athletes village.
The sporting event, which began Friday and runs through Aug. 6, has brought police, firefighters and other law enforcement officials from 50 countries to Winnipeg to compete in 63 events. Protesters have criticized the use of public funds on the events.
Games chief operating officer Mike Edwards appealed for calm Monday, and said the events have been positive overall.
“We are here to bring athletes together,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s not showing a very welcoming side of us here in Winnipeg.”
On Saturday, at about 7 a.m., a man flagged down a city police cruiser on the first 100 block of Goulet Street, the Winnipeg Police Service said Monday.
The man, in his 50s and a games competitor, said he witnessed an altercation at a fast food restaurant between two women and tried to intervene. One of the women sprayed bear mace at the other, then sprayed the man in his face, police said.
A source told the Free Press the male victim is an Australian.
A 25-year-old woman will be charged with assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon. She’s been released on an undertaking.
On Sunday, police were called to the event’s half-marathon route, with its start point in St. Vital Park. Anti-police phrases, among others, were spray-painted on the road, paths and portable bathrooms.
WINNIPEG POLICE HANDOUT Police said more than 65 phrases, including “ACAB,” an acronym used by police abolitionist groups, were spray painted on the roadway, walking paths and portable bathroom stalls.
The vandalism included the acronym “ACAB” (which stands for “all cops are bastards”), the phrases “no more cops” and “search the landfills” (in reference to ongoing calls to recover the remains of two homicide victims police believe are buried at Prairie Green Landfill north of the city).
Police said they found at least 65 graffiti tags along the race route, which they believe were painted overnight. Major crimes officers are investigating.
Later Sunday, protesters from a nearby rally gathered in front of the athletes’ village at The Forks.
Police were called to the centre around 7:15 p.m., where protesters were accused of trying to push through the front gate and barricades as they chanted at the sporting event’s attendees to go home.
Some protesters laid down in front of the entrance; others placed handprints in red paint on the gate and fence.
Police said a brick was thrown at a cruiser car, smashing its windshield. Police said the incident was de-escalated and the crowd left after about two hours.
Edwards said he was disappointed with some of the group’s actions. “(It’s) bordering past a peaceful protest. Individuals were starting to rattle the gates of our event.”
Families of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people had led a rally at The Forks’ Oodena Circle earlier to again call for governments to work together and support proposed searches of Winnipeg-area landfills.
Indigenous leaders and loved ones of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Tanya Nepinak requested new federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree arrange a meeting with them and provincial officials.
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS People attend a Search The Landfill rally at the Forks in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg police believe Harris and Myran were killed in 2022, and their remains transported to privately-owned Prairie Green. Nepinak disappeared in September 2011, and her body was thought to be at city-owned Brady Road landfill. A six-day police search in 2012 found nothing.
Jeremy Anthony Michael Skibicki has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Myran, Rebecca Contois, and the as-of-yet unidentified Buffalo Woman.
A second-degree murder charge laid against Shawn Lamb in relation to Nepinak’s disappearance was stayed. In 2013, Lamb pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the deaths of two other women and was sentenced to 20 years.
The Manitoba government has refused to support a search of the landfills, while Ottawa has not yet made a decision on a request for funding.
Organizers of the weekend rally described it as a “grave injustice” governments have given millions to support the 2023 World Police and Fire Games, but have not committed to searches.
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Rally renews calls for supporting the search for human remains in Winnipeg-area landfills
The event has received $2 million in federal funding, $4.9 million from the province of Manitoba, and $1.5 million from the City of Winnipeg.
After speeches, some rally participants marched a short distance to the CN Stage, where a concert was being held for the games athletes.
On Friday, protesters organized by local activist groups Winnipeg Police Cause Harm and Critical Mass angrily criticized the games, with a demonstration during the opening ceremonies.
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca
Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik.
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History
Updated on Monday, July 31, 2023 5:05 PM CDT: Writethru, adds art
Updated on Monday, July 31, 2023 5:48 PM CDT: Adds byline