The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said it is disappointed that a Sask. RCMP officer is accused of posting inappropriate comments against Indigenous protesters near Belleville Ontario to Facebook.
Vice Chief Dutch Lerat said he brought the alleged remarks to the attention of the RCMP.
Constable Jack Clay is accused of posting a meme suggesting the Mohawk protesters in Tyendinaga Territory who were blocking rail travel be machine-gunned.
“To have those reprehensible views on social media, [that] we are disappointed in the individual and we expect that the RCMP will deal with the individual accordingly,” said Lerat.
Lerat would not expand on what discipline the officer should face, but offered sensitivity training for recruits and officers.
The CBC reports that Clay has been placed on desk duty while an internal investigation is underway.
It appears the Facebook account has been removed.
“We as an organization, I know a lot of our leadership and our members are really disappointed when it comes to seeing these kinds of posts on Facebook. The reason that we’re disappointed is that we hold the RCMP in the highest standard,” Lerat explained.
Lerat noted that there are many good RCMP officers in the force. The RCMP said it became aware of the incident on March 2. “The RCMP understands social media is an important part of how we communicate, in both our personal and professional lives, and takes matters concerning the misconduct of all categories of employees on social networking websites seriously. It is important to note that the comments made on social media do not in any way reflect the values of the RCMP,” stated a spokesperson.