‘Swept-aside and downplayed’: Mission march organizer says alleged hit and run part of bigger issue

A senior has come forward following claims of a hit and run at a residential school awareness walk in Mission, B.C. over the weekend. The incident has led to outrage among participants of the Indigenous-led walk, due to a lack of arrests and witnesses saying police are “downplaying” the incident.

Mission RCMP say two people were hospitalized with “minor injuries” Saturday afternoon after a driver of a pickup truck allegedly drove through part of the demonstration, hitting several people before driving away.

In a now-deleted weekend news release, Mounties characterized the incident as that of an “impatient driver.”

“It sounds like this driver became upset that his trip was going to be delayed by a few minutes, and drove into oncoming traffic to try to get around the group,” Const. Harrison Mohr said in a written statement over the weekend. “When faced with oncoming traffic, he drove his vehicle into the midst of the group until the cars went by, then pulled out and passed again. In doing so, he struck several members of the March.”

Troy Ingraldi says he was doing traffic control for the Saturday march when he saw a truck “speeding up.”

“There were children in the righthand lane. I wanted to make sure the children were fine, so I stepped in front of the vehicle. He stopped and then continued to go. That’s when he ran me over,” he described after the incident.

Police say a bystander called officers to the scene “after it appeared as though a fight was about to break out.” On Monday, RCMP said officers only learned people may have been hit by the truck after they arrived.

Video of the large group making their way from Heritage Park to the site of the former St. Mary’s Residential School was posted online, as well as video capturing moments after the incident.

Here’s Facebook Live video of the incident in Mission – which shows the lie in the RCMP’s statement. Because the hit wasn’t when the lane was blocked, it was when people were being let through, and as we were marching on to reserve land at the residential school. pic.twitter.com/ySsyNsg28l

— Robert Jago (@rjjago) June 5, 2022

Christopher Robertson with the Crazy Indians Brotherhood, which organized the march, says the group heard “some quite racist things” during their interaction with the driver.

“It’s upsetting because I was really hoping this wasn’t going to be this way. But now it is turning out this way,” he said.

Witnesses have told CityNews only one officer responded to the scene.

Read more: Truck hits group in Mission, B.C. at residential school awareness march

Several participants have questioned the response from RCMP over the incident, alleging Mounties were downplaying it.

“If it were any of us driving, we would have been arrested right away. There would have been a much larger police presence. And we would have had the book thrown at us,” Robertson said.

“Almost all Aboriginal issues, they get swept aside and downplayed. Ten thousand potential graves have been found at 11 of 139 schools. This is why we march.”

Robertson added there were young children and elders taking part in the march.

Ingraldi and others were critical of a lack of arrest, despite the RCMP’s previous statement that people had been hit by a vehicle and that they had the driver’s license plate.

On Sunday, RCMP responded to the backlash:

“While we understand that some members of the public may want swift justice, as with any serious matter we need to let the evidence guide the investigation. Our officers are working hard to learn all of the facts, to ensure that we can provide the best evidence possible to CrownCounsel for charge assessment,” Mohr told CityNews on Sunday.

In a follow-up press conference Monday, Mohr defended the RCMP’s framing of the alleged hit and run.

“The wording in the initial release was based on the information we had during the initial stages of the investigation from what witnesses are told us at the scene. And that information was consistent with an upset motorist trying to rush past in a very dangerous and reckless manner and making contact with people as a result of that,” The constable said.

RCMP maintain there is no indication the driver targeted the demonstrators because of who they are or their cause.

“There’s no indication at this time from the anything that was said at the scene or from the interview by the driver that there is any bias or racism that played a role in this incident,” Mohr said. “That’s something we’re certainly still going to be very much alive to. And if there is evidence of that, at any point, that’ll factor into our charge recommendation as well. But at this point, it’s by all appearances, that it was not targeted by any means. We’ll have to wait and see if people are able to provide additional information or video footage to us that would help fill in some of those gaps that are still missing.”

They keep changing the stories,” Ingraldi said after Monday’s update, adding he believes police are “trying to cover their butts.”
Mounties issued another statement Monday, reporting a 77-year-old man had come forward. He has spoken with police and has since been released. His truck has been seized by police.

A group of people participating in the March for Recognition for Residential Schools in Mission, B.C. on June 4, 2022. RCMP said an “impatient driver” drove into oncoming traffic, then swerved into people taking part in the march. (Courtesy: Robert Jago)

RCMP say this driver “learned that police were looking for him” in part due to social media and the news.

Mohr added during a press conference, RCMP did not contact the suspect before the 77-year-old man who spoke to police, because when they prepare to investigate a suspect, “we want to have as much information as possible.”

He says it was “too soon in the investigation” to contact the possible driver because Mounties were still in the evidence-gathering phase.

“We wanted to ensure that we had as much information available to us to ask the right questions, and to try to make a proper assessment of his truthfulness … The other aspect to that is we had his license plate, but license plates give us the registered owner of a vehicle, it often helps us to lead us to the driver, but again, we needed to speak with more witnesses and get more information to actually confirm who was driving the truck at that time,” Mohr added.
Mohr insists the RCMP is treating this case, “as we would any other case of this seriousness.” He adds if police make an arrest too soon it “can actually [be] detriment to the court process further down the road.”

No charges have been laid but Mohr insisted resources put into this investigation will contribute to a faster process compared to a vast majority of similar vehicle cases.

“We have his truck, we will do a mechanical examination of that, and we were still looking for some witnesses to come forward. I would anticipate that there will be a charge recommendation within the coming weeks,” Mohr told reporters.

In response to whether the driver’s race has played a role in the investigation so far … “Mission RCMP is treating this case as we would any other case of this seriousness, we want to gather the best evidence possible, making an arrest to soon can determinate the court process.”

— Michael Williams (@1130Williams) June 6, 2022

In the initial release, RMCP said two people were hospitalized with what police describe as minor injuries. However Ingraldi says he has a concussion and police are dismissing the severity of the injuries.

“I ended up in the hospital and had to go for X-rays,” he told CityNews. “My injuries might have been minor on the outside of my body. But on my hip and my head … I still have bad headaches. That’s not minor to me.”

Mohr added the main investigator will be responsible to determine how Mounties portray Ingraldi’s injuries in the case. Mounties have contacted reached out and asked for medical consent from Ingraldi and will be accessing his medical records.

“If his injuries meet the definition of causing bodily harm, which is kind of the next step up by the criminal code, then certainly that’ll factor into our charge recommendation process,” he said.

RCMP say they are asking for more information from the public.

“We did not actually receive any 911 calls about the truck driving through the March, however we believe that there are more witnesses – including more people with cell phone video and dash cam footage who have not yet come forward,” Mohr said in a statement Monday.

He adds Mounties particularly want to speak to the driver who was behind the blue Chevrolet Silverado as it passed the march.

Anyone with information is asked to call Mission RCMP at 604-826-7161.