Hate charges possible after Winkler man taunted, had turban pulled off

Winkler police say hate-related charges may be laid in a case in which a newcomer was taunted with racial epithets by three suspects who tore off his turban.

Chief Ryan Hunt said while the three accused are known to police, the hate-related nature of the incident came as a shock.

“Anybody should be able to freely walk anywhere at any time, without the fear of being assaulted, regardless of religion or beliefs. And then in our community here in Winkler, an assault like this is essentially non-existent, we very rarely get random assaults,” he said Monday.

“The fact that it happened at all is is out of the ordinary, and the fact that there was racial motivation to it, or a hate crime connected to it, possibly, makes it concerning. It’s despicable. It’s not acceptable.”

Hunt said hate crime charges are being considered.

The 24-year-old victim was injured, but didn’t need to be hospitalized after the incident on June 15, around 1:26 a.m.

When police officers arrived, the victim flagged them down; he said he had been walking home from work when he was attacked.

Turbans are worn by some who practise the Sikh religion, along with a number of other cultures and faiths.

The victim had received support from Regional Connections, the central immigrant resource network in Pembina Valley, when he moved to the city. The organization provides settlement support, including literacy and language classes; help seeking employment; and cultural diversity training to employers.

“We have reached out directly to him and his family, and we’re just waiting to see how we can help them,” said Steve Reynolds, the executive director of the Winkler branch of Regional Connections.

The organization will hold a drop-in counselling session Tuesday and is offering counselling to anyone who wants help dealing with the attack.

They’re figuring out how employees of Regional Connections, many of whom are newcomers, can “unpack” the incident, he said.

“There’s been lots of great experiences and success stories, and people immigrating here and staying here because they’re having really good experience in the community,” he said. “But when something like this happens, it’s a pretty shocking wake-up call that there’s a lot of work to do as well.”

Winkler, which had 13,745 residents as of the 2021 census, has had a large influx of newcomers in recent years. Starting in 2022, 700-plus people have arrived in the small community yearly, partly owing to the arrival of Ukrainians following Russia’s invasion of that country. Reynolds said that number has dropped to 500 over the past year.

Andrew Froese, the city’s deputy mayor, said their integration into the community has been smooth.

“Hopefully (newcomers to Winkler) understand and recognize that, hopefully, this is an isolated incident and they continue to feel part of our community every day in their everyday life,” he said.

Reynolds agreed, but said some staff and clients had reported feeling targeted by anti-immigrant sentiment.

In recent months, part of their work has been combating misinformation about immigration that clients or staff hear, be it online or through other channels.

“Our concern has definitely been in the last year, as immigration is politicized and the way it’s reported and talked about, that manifesting at the local level,” he said.

Police have charged Trevayne Thomas, 18, Landon Disbrowe, 19, and a 16-year-old boy with assault. Thomas also faces charges of resisting arrest and failing to comply with a probation order. The youngest accused was charged with resisting arrest and possession of a deadly weapon. He and Disbrowe were released on an undertaking and Thomas remains in custody in Winnipeg.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca