Dashcam footage of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam’s arrest is being made public.
Adam is claiming he was assaulted by members of the Wood Buffalo RCMP back in March after being pulled over for an expired license plate.
His lawyer, Brian Beresh, has filed a court motion to have these officers criminally charged. Included in the motion is footage of the arrest.
It appears to show Adam being tackled by one of the officers who also punches him in the face while he is being restrained.
In the nearly 12-minute video, Adam is heard arguing with one of the officers claiming he was ‘tired of being harrased by the RCMP.’
Later on, he is seen leaving the truck, taking off his jacket, and confronting one of the officers before going back into the vehicle.
Several minutes later, he’s seen once again getting out of his truck, despite being told to remain in the vehicle, and restrained by one officer before a second comes in and tackles him.
One of the members can also be heard telling Adam’s family ‘to go back in the car.’
While being put in the police cruiser, Adam yells at his family to ‘get his badge number.’
He has since been charged with assaulting an officer and resisting arrest.
Wood Buffalo RCMP say they had reviewed the dashcam footage and deemed the officers actions were reasonable and did not meet the threshold for an external investigation.
However, Alberta’s Serious Incident Response Team has been asked to investigate the situation.