RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki testified today at the inquiry into the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act last February that some federal politicians and bureaucrats were frustrated by what they perceived to be the Ottawa Police Service’s inability to deal with the “Freedom Convoy” blockade. [node:read-more:link]
Imran Khan, the Pakistani prime minister ousted in a vote of no-confidence last April, has survived an attack during a protest march in Wazirabad. Khan was wounded in one leg when a burst of gunfire struck his vehicle, but one person was killed and five others were injured. An assailant was immediately detained by police. [node:read-more:link]
RCMP close protection units are running short of the personnel who protect politicians, the Governor General, Supreme Court judges, diplomats and visiting dignitaries. Responding to growing political pressure, the force says assignments other than those for specific federal cabinet members are based on threat assessments. [node:read-more:link]
Halifax District RCMP Police are investigating after a woman was wounded, possibly accidentally, by a bullet fired from an illegal “printed” firearm. Four persons were detained and one was charged with obstructing a police officer. [node:read-more:link]
Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team is investigating the RCMP’s handling of an autistic teenager in the Edmonton satellite community of St. Albert. The 16-year-old was in playing in a park behind his grandparents’ house when officers responded to a complaint. Even though the RCMP had been advised of the teen’s condition, they took him into custody before moving him to hospital from a holding cell. RCMP have also launched an internal investigation. [node:read-more:link]
A 37-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in the October 18 stabbing death of an RCMP officer in Burnaby, B.C. Constable Shaelyn Yang, a member of the force’s mental health and homeless outreach team, was stabbed by a man while helping a city employee to ask the man to remove his tent from a park. [node:read-more:link]
Two South Simcoe Police Service officer in Ontario are dead today after responding to a domestic call in the town of Innisfil north of Toronto. Taken to separate hospitals after exchanging fire with a civilian, who evidently died at the scene, one officer died late October 11 and the other was confirmed dead early today. [node:read-more:link]
Thirty-two persons, including 23 children at a daycare centre in northeastern Thailand, were killed today by a former police officer. After his knife and gun rampage at the daycare, he is reported to have gone home to shoot his family before committing suicide. Dismissed from the force last year, he was facing trial on drug charges. [node:read-more:link]
Seven women are suing the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, alleging they were sexually assaulted by “various” officers between 2001 and 2017. Their statement of claim filed last month in the province’s high court said the force “knew or ought to have known” its officers were targeting women in the St. John's area and that the government is vicariously liable because it “had a duty to warn the public of this danger and failed to do so.” [node:read-more:link]
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro is indulging in “political brinkmanship” over plans to have the RCMP manage a firearms buy-back program in the province. Shandro has said he won’t permit it but Mendicino points out that “matters relating to the control management and administration of the RCMP are within exclusive federal jurisdiction.” [node:read-more:link]
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said today that “America and the Zionist regime, and their employees” are behind widespread rioting in his country. The unrest, which has resulted in hundreds of arrests, was sparked by the death of a young woman in the custody of Iran’s “morality” police. [node:read-more:link]
Jeremy Mackenzie, leader of the right-wing Dioagolon movement, which also is said to include military personnel, was arrested September 27 by Halifax Regional Police on a Canada-wide warrant. His partner, also detained, said the couple “waited in the driveway for them and cooperated.” [node:read-more:link]
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites and a Palestinian icon, has been occupied by a group of ultranationalist Jews protected by Israeli authorities. Also, Israeli police attacked Palestinians within the compound and prevented others from entering. [node:read-more:link]
In what is being called a tool for surveillance of the Chinese-Canadian diaspora, three “service stations” have been set up in Toronto by the Fuzhou Public Security Bureau, a Chinese police force. China insists that their mandate is to help expatriates deal with administrative issues, but Safeguard Defenders, an Asian human rights group, says they serve a darker purpose in Canada and dozens of other countries. [node:read-more:link]
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has asked the RCMP to investigate “disgusting” online sexual assault comments about his wife. Jeremy MacKenzie, whose right-wing group is affiliated with the “Freedom Convoy” protests, tried to justify his comments during a video exchange with another member of his group by saying that he was drunk. [node:read-more:link]
