Aunt ‘furious’ after video of Ontario police kicking and tasering a First Nations woman surfaces – APTN News
Jul 19, 2023
The Ontario Provincial Police, or OPP said a video that appears to show a police officer punching a woman repeatedly, kicking her and then tasering her twice while she is laying on the ground, “captures only a portion of the event.”
A nearly 90 second video of the incident in Sioux Lookout, Ontario, that was posted on social media on July 15 has been viewed tens of thousands of times.
Rachel Mamakwa, who is a councilor in Kasabonika Lake First Nation in northern Ontario, is the aunt of Jessica Mamakwa, who is the woman being hit by police in the video. Rachel posted the video to her social media.
When the video was first sent to her, Rachel Mamakwa says “I was just furious. I couldn’t believe what I saw.”
“The violence that my niece took is really troubling me,” says Rachel who is meeting with lawyers from Falconers LLP later this week.
“I feel like there was no reason to get kicked in the face with a boot and two tasers,” says Mamakwa who wonders why the officer didn’t just hold her niece down instead of punching her in the face.
