Marlborough’s doors remain closed three months after unruly protest, vandalism

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This article was published 11/04/2024 (573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Marlborough Hotel remains closed nearly three months after protesters ransacked its basement in response to an online video showing an Indigenous woman restrained by staff.

Meanwhile, the woman at the centre of the controversy is back in custody, after allegedly stealing a vehicle and leading officers on a high-speed pursuit in late March. The court denied her application for release April 2, court records show.

They are the latest of more than a dozen charges Gail Karen Annie Bradburn has accumulated since city police charged her with assault with a weapon for allegedly trying to stab a staffer at the hotel Dec. 25.

Bradburn, now 19, was thrust into the public spotlight when a video depicting the incident began circulating online. The recording — over three minutes in length — showed her restrained by zip-ties with her arms behind her back as staff prevented her from leaving the Marlborough Hotel lobby.

Dozens of protesters gathered in the hotel about four weeks later to condemn the citizen’s arrest and alleged the building’s basement was the site of a human-trafficking ring. Such claims have never been substantiated by police.

Less than an hour after the protest began, some of the demonstrators stormed the basement, forced open several locked doors, smashed alcohol bottles, flipped furniture and tore through the contents of metal lockers.

The hotel has remained closed to the public since Jan. 24 and staff have reportedly become the targets of numerous threats.

The Winnipeg Police Service has said it was investigating the threats and the damage caused during the protest.

Police also said Marlborough staff would not face charges for restraining Bradburn, but the video — in which she alleges she was touched inappropriately — had prompted a separate investigation.

On Wednesday, a police spokesperson could not confirm whether the investigations are ongoing or have led to any charges.

As for the hotel, it is no longer accepting bookings or phone calls. The lobby doors are locked and the exterior is a mess of shattered windows and plywood barricades.

Graffiti, including about a dozen red hand prints — a nationally recognized symbol of advocacy for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls — covers the walls, windows and front facade.

The rear entrance, a steel door located in an alleyway alcove between Smith and Garry streets, is damaged from attempts to pry it open, and the surrounding area is littered with garbage, drug paraphernalia, urine and discarded clothing.

Efforts to reach the building’s management team were unsuccessful Wednesday.

A review of business records shows the numbered company that owns the property has maintained a default status with the Manitoba Companies Office since last July, when it failed to file its annual returns.

The Marlborough is named in a small claims lawsuit filed April 4 in the Court of King’s Bench, in which a bread vendor claims he is owed $544 for unpaid invoices dating to Jan. 9.

The 148-room, nine-storey hotel at 331 Smith St. is valued at just over $1 million, according to its 2024 property assessment.

The building has been classified as a historical resource under City of Winnipeg bylaws since 1998. It cannot be destroyed and its exterior appearance cannot be altered.

Bradburn, who RCMP previously charged with assault with a weapon for allegedly stabbing somebody last September on a remote Manitoba First Nation, has since breached court-imposed release orders nine times.

She was charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer in February.

Bradburn will appear in court April 19.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca