The biggest issue this week at the Gerald Stanley preliminary hearing has turned out to be the level of security at the North Battleford Provincial Court.
Security was tight in the case involving Stanley, who faces a charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Colten Boushie on a farm in the RM of Glenside last Aug. 9. The preliminary hearing is being held to determine whether there is enough evidence for Stanley to stand trial.
On both Monday and Tuesday, all visitors to the courthouse have had to go through metal detectors and screening at the front entrance.
Moreover, the portion of Railway Avenue in front of the courthouse, running from the 100th Street-11th Avenue intersection and 101st Street, had been blocked off by police on Monday and into Tuesday. By Tuesday afternoon, however, the police presence was scaled back noticeably as the street was opened up again to traffic.
The police presence has been criticized as unnecessary by Boushie supporters.
“The last thing on anybody’s mind in this family is to cause any unrest," said Chris Murphy, the Boushie family’s lawyer, Monday.
Following Tuesday’s proceedings, Andre Bear, a youth representative with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, was vocal in criticizing the amount of security on display.
“I’m extremely in dismay about how the RCMP have been treating our people within this entire case,” said Bear.
He accused the RCMP of focusing on protecting Stanley instead of indigenous people appearing at the hearing. Bear noted all the RCMP security had died down after Stanley left the courthouse area.
“This is a matter of protecting the person who allegedly murdered this indigenous youth” said Bear.
“And so there’s a lot that this has to do with the racism and the tension that’s building. And so I don’t believe that it’s a wrong thing that we are calling it exactly what it is, which is racism.”
Bear also criticized the amount of security at the entrance to the courthouse, saying “it’s dehumanizing.”
“We feel like animals coming in and out of here every single time having to be patted down. We don't see that with the other families and stuff like that. There’s a definite inequality in how we’re being treated."
By Wednesday morning, the entire portion of Railway Avenue was open to traffic as the Stanley preliminary hearing took a break for the day.
However, the preliminary hearing was set to resume Thursday around 10 a.m., for what was anticipated to be the final day of testimony.
The expectation is that there will once again be a high security presence.
There is word from the FSIN that a rally is being planned for the courthouse Thursday morning. That rally is expected to get underway around 9 a.m.
