Roy L Hales/ CKTZ News - About a hundred people attended the memorial for Jared Lowndes, who was gunned down by the RCMP outside the Campbell River Tim Hortons takeout on July 8, 2021.
One of the three stops they made was at the RCMP station, where the crowd voiced their anger outside the door.
Lowndes mother, Laura Hamilton, and more than a dozen protesters went inside, where three officers met them. You could see the officers mouth’s moving, but their words were drowned by the roar that erupted in response. The only voice you hear in the audio is Hamilton’s, who would not accept the RCMP explanation.
“There is no possible way you could understand the terror every time I close my eyes. I see the holes in his face, I see the f____ holes in his face. Do you understand, every time I close my eyes I see my son’s brains blown out,” she shouted, above the rising chants.
Chief Darren Blaney, of the Homalco Nation, blames the shooting on the RCMP’s lack of training. He said the police should not have the authority to use lethal force after only six months training. The first nations community, and people of colour, are paying the price.
The RCMP were attempting to serve an outstanding warrant for weapons possessions.
According to Fay Blaney, the great aunt of Lowndes daughters Phoenix and Patience, Lowndes was acquitted of the associated charges years ago. The court dismissed them after Lowndes common-law wife confessed she had planted the gun in his possessions.
However the warrant, to obtain a sample of DNA that could show if Lowndes touched the gun, was still in the system.
Fay Blaney said the First Nations community has been targeted by police. She suspects that Lowndes fled because he knew the RCMP could inflict violence upon him with impunity.
According to a memo sent to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale in 2017, 36% of the people fatally shot during the previous decade were Indigenous, but they constitute less than 5% of the population.
Lowndes is the fourth member of Vancouver Island’s First Nation community that police have killed in a little over a year.
When they caught up with him at the Tim Horton’s take-out, the RCMP rammed Lowndes car from three directions. Lowndes and his four month puppy were trapped inside. The RCMP sent the police dog Gator in after them. Lowndes defended himself with a knife. The RCMP responded by shooting him in the face three times. Unconfirmed reports state he may have been shot 6 times.
Photo Credit: Lowndes mother, Laura Hamilton, standing beside Chief Darren Blaney of the Homalco Nation at the police dog Gator's memorial - photo be Roy L Hales
