RCMP to examine whether racial profiling at play in wrongful homicide arrests of teen brothers
Siblings spent a week in jail facing murder and other related charges
RCMP will conduct an independent review of the chain of events that led to the wrongful arrests of two teenage brothers who spent a week in jail after being charged with a local homicide, according to Calgary's police chief.
And while defence lawyer Andrea Urquhart — who represents the older brother — feels the review shows the chief is taking the incident "very seriously," she also says there are lasting impacts from the arrest and imprisonment on her client.
"Nothing about this review will change or reverse the trauma that this event has had for my client," said Urquhart.
"The only hope going forward is that changes will be made to prevent other young Black youths from having to endure the trauma of being improperly arrested and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit."
The teens — a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old — were taken into custody in the hours after a fatal shooting in the parking lot of a northeast mall on Nov. 13.
The younger boy was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Rami Hajj Ali, 23 and two counts of attempted murder in connection with two victims who were shot but survived. The older brother was charged with accessory to murder.
Neither of the brothers are being named in order to protect the underage sibling.
Video clears teens
Charges were later dropped after a video posted to social media came to light.
At a Calgary Police Commission meeting Wednesday night, Chief Mark Neufeld said the national police force will review "the circumstances that led up to the formulation of the grounds to lay the charges, and the laying of the charges."
Neufeld said RCMP will also examine whether racial profiling was at play in the arrests of the teens.
Defence lawyer Jim Lutz represents the younger brother, who faced murder charges. He called news of the RCMP review a "good step toward community transparency."
"I think it's a really good idea, it's a really important gesture toward the community." said Lutz.
When investigators first announced the charges, police said the brothers were arrested after witnesses at the shooting scene provided "valuable information" about the suspects.
Police said they tracked the brothers, who'd left the scene in a black truck first to the Chinook mall parking lot and then to two homes where several people were taken into custody. CPS said throughout the night officers "worked to determine each person's involvement, if any" in the shooting.
Chief apologized to brothers
Ultimately, the brothers were charged in the homicide.
Within days, a video was posted online showing a man in a red hoodie shooting into a vehicle. That man did not match the description of the teen who was charged.
Neufeld said investigators brought the new video evidence to prosecutors as soon as they'd confirmed its reliability.
Six days after the arrests, prosecutors appeared in court and directed stays in both cases.
The same day, Neufeld then apologized to the teens.
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