Following the brutal July 8th police murder of 38 year old Wet’suwet’en man, Jared Lowndes, a number of actions were held this past week in his memory and in outrage of his killing. Jared was shot six times and killed outside of a Tim Hortons in Campbell River, BC after RCMP boxed his car in and set a police dog on him inside his car. The police dog was killed as Jared tried to protect himself and his own dog from its attacks. Following Jared’s murder the RCMP organized a public procession and funeral for the police dog which Jared’s family say has fueled racism in the community. Media coverage has consistently focused on the death of the dog rather than Jared’s murder.
Jared’s murder is the third time in recent months that police dogs, who have been injured or killed while attacking Indigenous people, have been the focus of more public mourning than the humans murdered by the police. In late June, Lionel Ernest Grey, from the Gift Lake Metis Settlement, was killed by RCMP. A 28 year old man was killed by police near Cold Lake, Alberta on June 20th. In both cases, the police dogs injured or killed during the killings were the focus of the media surrounding the incidents.
In Campbell River, a rolling memorial was held on July 20. Mourners, including Jared’s mother, carried his ashes to multiple locations in the city including the Campbell River RCMP detachment. While there, Jared’s mother expressed her fury at the police for killing her son. As reported by the National Observer, Jared’s mother told the RCMP sent to speak to her during the memorial: “You don’t understand! You were created to control and kill Indians and you have not stopped.”
The memorial for Jared set up outside the Tim Hortons where he was killed has been destroyed multiple times.
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