A photo released by Athabasca Chipewyan Chief Allan Adam after his arrest in 2020.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team’s (ASIRT)investigation into the violent 2020 arrest of the chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta has found no wrongdoing by the officers involved.
The final report from the police watchdog agency’s investigation is a lengthy 24 pages and details the events of the March 10, 2020 incident outside a Fort McMurray casino.
Dashcam video showed Chief Allan Adam being thrown to the ground during the arrest for an expired license. Adam suffered cuts and bruises to his face.
“After a thorough, independent and objective investigation into the conduct of the Subject Officers, it is my opinion that they were lawfully placed and acting properly in the execution of their duties,” executive director Michael Ewenson states in his conclusion.
“There is no evidence to support any belief that they engaged in any unlawful or unreasonable conduct that would give rise to a criminal offence. Further, there was no evidence to suggest that the initial investigation by SO1 (Subject Officer 1) of AP’s (Affected Person’s) truck having expired license plates was anything but bona fide.”
Adam believed he was targeted by the RCMP that night and treated differently by the officers because he is First Nations.
“Having reviewed all recordings made of the incident there is no evidence that race played a role in this incident by any officer involved. SO1 did not have any previous dealings with AP or his family and the registration was clearly expired,” Ewenson says in the report.
“The interaction of AP and SO2 was brief and captured on video. While the video does capture a SO2 using force on AP, there is nothing in the recordings to suggest the SO2 had any idea who AP was or that he was [I]ndigenous.”
Ewenson goes on to say that “past personal interactions with law enforcement” may have given Adam a different “subjective impression of the incident.”
“He is obviously entitled to his personal beliefs however there is nothing in the available evidence that documents any overt language or conduct by the subject officers that would suggest racist treatment of the AP. The traffic stop was clearly lawful,” Ewenson says.
Adam was charged with assaulting an officer following the incident, but that charge was dropped in June, 2020.
APTN has reached out to Adam for comment.
