Police investigate Marlborough Hotel basement rampage

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This article was published 22/01/2024 (614 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police are investigating after the basement of the Marlborough Hotel was ransacked Sunday afternoon while dozens of people gathered on the main floor to protest a social media video of hotel staff restraining an Indigenous woman with zip-ties.

What began as a peaceful protest took a turn less than an hour after it began, when a group of people entered the building’s basement and forced open several locked doors, smashing alcohol bottles, flipping furniture and tearing through the contents of metal lockers.

“The WPS is in the early stages of investigating aspects of the protest and resulting damage to the property,” Winnipeg Police Service Const. Claude Chancy said via email Monday.

“The WPS allows participants to exercise their rights to peaceful and lawful assembly while mitigating risks to the public. Any participants involved in illegal activity during a peaceful assembly can be subject to investigation leading to possible charges being laid.”

Investigators have not announced any suspects, arrests or charges relating to the chaos.

Nobody was reported injured, but it is too early for investigators to say whether anything was stolen from the hotel, WPS said.

Police could not provide damage estimates, and deferred comment to hotel management.

On Monday, the Marlborough’s front door was locked to the public and a security guard stood watch from inside the lobby. He did not permit the Free Press to enter the building.

The hotel’s management team declined to comment via email, citing the WPS pending investigation.

Protesters crammed into the hotel lobby, located at 331 Smith St., after a video capturing part of a Dec. 25 altercation between staff and an Indigenous woman began circulating online.

The more than three-minute video shows the woman sobbing with her arms bound behind her back in the hotel lobby as two men hold the door closed and prevent her from leaving the building.

At one point, the woman accuses a man of being a “pervert” and says she was punched in the face and touched in her “private spot.”

Police said they are investigating the video, but hotel staff are not facing charges for restraining the woman, who was allegedly threatening people with a knife.

Police have charged her for assault with a weapon.

In the recording, two men are seen holding the woman by her arms near a stairwell as an apparent bystander claims: “They’re taking her in the basement now.”

Signs, chants and speeches made during the protest included demands for police to search the basement for evidence of human trafficking.

It is unclear who initiated efforts to break into the basement, which includes a bar area, kitchen and a network of hallways, rooms, storage spaces and industrial equipment.

Justin Friesen, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Winnipeg, said people can sometimes react in unexpected or extreme ways — particularly when they are involved in an emotionally-charged, group setting.

“When people feel like they are under threat or maybe the social group to which they belong to is under threat, this can heighten these feelings or tendencies,” Friesen said, speaking generally.

“If it starts to tip into violent or anti-social behaviour, as an individual, you might be willing to go along with that because you see yourself as part of a crowd now.”

When people feel overlooked or mistreated by public institutions, such as government or police, they are less likely to rely on those institutions and may seek to find evidence that confirms their beliefs, he added.

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. Grand Chief Garrison Settee, who attended the rally, said he does not condone violence.

“We stood by our message as grand chiefs and chiefs in requesting a peaceful protest. We heard about the rally from social media and stood in solidarity with our grassroots citizens and our outrage of what we had seen in the video,” he said in an email statement.

“It is inhumane to treat people in the manner that they did. We demand respect for our women, girls and all our citizens.”

MKO noted it does not know who organized the rally or why it was held inside the hotel, rather than out on the street.

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick — who also attended the rally — and the Southern Chiefs’ Organization did not respond to requests for comment.

All three Indigenous organizations issued statements decrying the video and unanimously committing to cut ties with the hotel, which is used by some social and Indigenous organizations to temporarily house people travelling to Winnipeg from First Nations for medical appointments.

“MKO calls upon the federal government, the province of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg to work with, and include us, in the discussions as to how to improve our citizens options for health care,” Settee said.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca