Photo: Manitoba RCMP
There are concerns on Ebb and Flow First Nation after Manitoba RCMP announced that they’re looking for a man who threatened to kill an officer in a video posted on social media.
On Aug. 31, 2024, Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP say they were made aware of a video circulating on Facebook showing a male with a firearm on his front porch in Ebb and Flow First Nation, looking at an RCMP officer.
At a meeting of chief and council at Ebb and Flow first Nation Monday, concerns were voiced over the weekend incident.
“We have a lot of individuals that come into our community from other First Nations and they sell drugs in our community,” said Brenda Baptiste, a councillor in the community. “They’re released by the courts to our community and they’re not band members. “We have a lot of concerns in our First Nation that are a danger and a threat to our membership.”
RCMP allege a video shows a man making threats to kill an officer who was at a neighbouring home, approximately 20 metres away. The officer was executing an arrest warrant and unaware of the firearm and the threats being made.
Baptiste said this is just the latest incident of many in the community.
Baptiste acknowledges the suspect RCMP are still looking for in connection to the weekend incident is from Ebb and Flow.
Keith Racette, 29, is wanted for uttering threats and possession of a firearm. It is believed he either remains in the community or could have travelled to Winnipeg.
Racette is described as 5’9” tall, 194 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes. He has a large tattoo on the left side of his neck and a large birthmark on his left cheek. RCMP say he is considered dangerous.
“We have a weekly meeting with the RCMP sergeant for our area here and we do talk about what needs to be done. They make us look like bad people here,” Baptiste said. We live right in the community. We’re also the ones that are affected, our children, our grandchildren. We need to get more access to some kind of safety in our community. Right now, we have safety officers, but there’s only so much they can do.
“Especially with drug dealers coming into our community with guns.”
Baptiste said the tragedy on James Smith Cree Nation, on Sept. 4, 2022 comes to mind when she hears of something like this incident, saying of the suspect wanted in connection to this case:
“He’s a transient, so we don’t really know if he’s in the community, but if he is, hopefully somebody out there will report him and he gets picked up,” she said.
