By Jake Cardinal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
(ANNews) – Pacey Dumas, a 19-year-old Indigenous man living in Edmonton, Alberta is currently living with a hole in his skull that he says resulted from a brutal assault by Edmonton Police officers.
Since the assault, the Dumas family has filed a statement of claim in the Alberta Court of Queen’s bench, naming Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Chief Dale McFee, Const. Ben Todd and six unidentified officers as defendants.
“The above described actions committed by one or more of the EPS Officers were high handed, malicious and highly reprehensible misconduct that departs markedly from the ordinary standards of decent behaviour and constitutes and abuse of authority,” the statement of claim reads.
The Assault
In the early morning of December 9, 2020, the police visited the Dumas home in Callingwood South in response to a weapons complaint claiming that someone matching Pacey’s description had a knife.
Pacey’s mother, Irene Dumas, allowed the responding officers to search the house to which no weapons were found, said the lawsuit.
However it was during the search that Pacey and his older brother, Blair, were put in custody outside of the house.
It is alleged that during the restraint, Const. Todd began to berate and assault the Indigenous teenager.
“Suddenly and without warning (Todd) moved swiftly to Pacey and while in motion kicked Pacey in the right side of his head with such force Pacey was immediately rendered unconscious and bleeding,” the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit states that at least one neighbour witnessed the assault.
After the assault, the police allegedly dragged Pacey’s body away from the Dumas house and refused to give him medical attention.
Irene is said to have come outside the house after hearing ambulance sirens. “(She) saw blood on the ground and could not see her young son Pacey anywhere,” the claim states.
The officers then refused to tell her where Pacey was being transported to or what had happened. When Irene finally got to the hospital Pacey was at, she was told that her son might not survive his injuries.
The doctors were forced to remove a part of Pacey’s skull to alleviate pressure from his swollen brain. His surgery to cover the opening has been delayed for nearly a year — most likely due to high capacity issues from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is important to note that neither brother was charged with a crime, neither one of them has a criminal record.
The Claim
The lawsuit is demanding that Pacey receive $400,000 in general and punitive damages, as well as compensation for lost income and costs of future care.
It also asks for $20,000 from each defendant — to be paid personally — for making “false or misleading” statements about how Pacey had received his injuries.
Pacey’s mother, Irene, and his brother, Blair, are also seeking compensation in the form of $75,000 for “depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and/or fear of police as a result of the EPS officers’ cruel and reprehensible conduct.”
ASIRT, Alberta’s police watchdog, opened an investigation on the incident. However, the Dumas family do not know when the investigation will be completed or if any of the officers will be charged.
The watchdog’s executive director, Susan Hughson, said in an email to CBC that the agency is badly underfunded and at a “critical breaking point.” In fact, ASIRT is still closing up files from 2018.
Tansi
Idk if the head kicked victims lawyer truly understands the situation. Challenging The Constitutionality of any and all legislation that enables such rampant and clearly lawless behavior by Canadian Law Enforcement staff, on behalf of his Majesty the King; as a matter of day to day discretion of decision making, towards indigenous peoples now ongoing into the 2020’s. Some how, I don’t feel our 1982 Constitutional rights are or even have been, protected in absolutely any way, from the government; operated with a staff Workplace culture that supersedes all laws and reason.
On paper, Canada is one of the greatest places on Earth, a champion of Human Rights around the World. Here in the real world, Canada and all its pie in the sky laws about rights are completely owned and operated by the entrenched culture of lawless white supremacy, crown administrators; that all look exactly like Adolf Hitler to me, the same type of person that refuses to acknowledge me a a human being with all the rights and privileges afforded to human beings under the Canadian Constitution.
Although, the Some of the Federal Court Registry staff, are deleting any piece of information they can as soon as they can; related to this ongoing Federal Court action. The publicly accessible information still shows, T-2060-22 Federal Court of Canada. Please look it up to see what it shows. That is me, Disabled, Indigenous plaintiff. Kieran Devine. Civil Lawsuit Challenging the Constitutionality of the Same Legislation that provides EPS staff unchecked power to intensely evil people with no regard for indigenous people or our rights, even according to their own Canadian Law.
I can put it a different way. Canada is great, its administrative staff are genocidal maniacs that can Not See any reason why any laws they enforce would apply to them and their brothers, exactly like their Nazi Forfathers. They rebranded. Same evil nature, brand new name that sounds the same but is spelt completely different.
I very strongly encourage The Alberta Native News; to share this letter and its complete with the subject of this story and or their Legal representation. With a wide open invitation from me, for either one or both to contact me, at any time, in regard to this story/letter and the lawless nature of the Canadian Crown Workplace Culture.
Being my own lawyer in Federal Court setting is a difficult task in the extreme. I however will gladly take any amount of time necessary to help out any indigenous brothers suffering from the same affliction of Browness, and how that fact is regarded as a justifiable reason for summary execution; by lawless criminals with systemic governmental authority.
That being said, I will not be offended in any way if the Alberta Native News, and or the subject of the related story; choose not to contact me at all.