Guilty plea in racially charged Brandon skatepark stabbing
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/02/2021 (1869 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
BRANDON — An Indigenous woman charged in the stabbing of a Black man at a downtown Brandon skatepark has been sentenced to 225 days time served in jail.
Freedom Williams, 20, was initially charged with public incitement of hatred in the Sept. 3, 2020, brawl.
On Thursday, she pleaded guilty to assault for an incident Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said “shook the community a little bit.”
At 7:40 p.m. on Sept. 3, Brandon police received a call about a fight near the Princess Avenue skatepark between an Indigenous man and four Indigenous women, and a Black man.
Freedom Williams and co-accused Naomi Williams (her sister), Steven Huntinghawk and Annie Huntinghawk and another woman had been drinking earlier in the day and were walking past the skatepark, Crown attorney Grant Hughes said.
The group encounterd the man, and a discussion started. Friendly at first, it escalated after racial comments were made.
“Those comments couldn’t be associated directly with any of the accused,” said Hughes.
A fight broke out and the victim was able to get Steven Huntinghawk on the ground. The four women tried to force the man off Huntinghawk.
Eventually, a suspect, also accused of slashing the tires on the victim’s car, stabbed the man.
Freedom Williams didn’t participate in the stabbing itself, Hughes said — she did, however, kick and hit him.
“The overall situation — although it doesn’t quite fit the incitement of hatred charge and, certainly, we wouldn’t be able to assess those comments directly against Ms. Williams and whether the attack itself was racially motivated — there were certainly racial overtones,” the Crown said.
She also pleaded guilty Thursday to two sets of unrelated charges from June 8, 2019, and March 1, 2020.
Defence lawyer Bob Harrison said there was no preplanning in the skatepark fight.
“As far as any racism, it’s puzzling because, unfortunately, she’s been subject to racism herself, being First Nations,” said Harrison. “I think all of this points to anger management.”
Charges for the other co-accused are still before the court.
— Brandon Sun
History
Updated on Friday, February 5, 2021 6:20 AM CST: fixes punctuation in headline