Police investigating video of distraught First Nations woman who was restrained in Winnipeg hotel
Indigenous leaders, demonstrators demand answers from Marlborough Hotel
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Winnipeg police are investigating — and dozens protested on Sunday — after video circulated widely on social media of a distraught young First Nations woman who appeared to have her hands restrained behind her back and was barred from leaving a downtown hotel.
The video, which has been shared widely on social media, was filmed Dec. 25 in the lobby of the Marlborough Hotel. It shows a woman with her hands bound behind her back repeatedly trying to leave the hotel while several men bar her from doing so.
The woman had allegedly produced a knife and attempted to stab a staff member before someone employed by the hotel put zip ties on her until police arrived, according to Const. Claude Chancy with the Winnipeg Police Service.
"She was turned over to officers, placed under arrest and subsequently charged with assault with a weapon," he said.
Chancy said police opened a new investigation after recently viewing the video this week, in which the woman accuses staff of abusing her. Police are not releasing the woman's age or name due to privacy concerns.
In separate statements, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Southern Chiefs' Organization and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak expressed outrage over the video.
Dozens of protesters gathered shoulder-to-shoulder inside the hotel's lobby on Sunday afternoon in support of the woman and to call for answers about what happened.
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick was among those in the hotel lobby to protest, along with other Manitoba First Nation leaders.
"It was very alarming to us as leaders, and we need to be able to come here to be able to support our people," Merrick said at the rally.
"It's very concerning because what happened to the young lady and what was really shown to the public about being zip tied with her hands behind her back is not called for."
She said she has been in touch with the woman in the video, who was not able to make the rally because she's in northern Manitoba. Merrick said the woman had been trying to visit family staying at the hotel for medical reasons on Dec. 25.
"We'll make sure they'll know the culture of our people that are put here," she said. "They are no longer going to disrespect our people that are put here.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee also weighed in on the video. "What has happened here is inhumane. What has happened here is a disgrace," he said.
The hotel's general manager, who said he witnessed the incident, said the woman was intoxicated and was "brandishing a knife" in the lobby, while threatening people inside.
"Winnipeg city police [WPS] were immediately called and advised us to protect our guests and staff, which we did using wrist restraints on this individual," Rakib Hoque said in a statement.
A shortened version of the roughly three-minute-long video was shared to Facebook on Dec. 26, and then was reshared to TikTok on Jan. 18 by Children First Society.
The video starts with two men trying to hold the woman near a stairwell inside the lobby of the downtown Winnipeg hotel, located on Smith Street.
"They're taking her to the basement now," a man who appears to be a bystander filming the video says.
The woman, who appears to be crying with her hands restrained behind her back, then walks toward the front door as one of the men tries to direct her away from it. She can be heard calling him a "pervert," saying she was punched in the face and touched in her "private spot."
"She's trying to run," another man says in the background.
A different man closes the front door on the woman. The man who appears to be filming repeatedly asks for the woman's name.
The man is then told to leave.
"Don't worry, I'll be outside," the man tells the woman before the video ends.
The hotel's manager said police took the woman into custody.
"We want to assure the community that our only intention was to prevent this young woman from harming herself or others until the WPS arrived," Hoque said.
Woman charged with assault with a weapon: police
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which works with the hotel to house patients travelling from parts of Manitoba to access health care in Winnipeg, said in its statement it has ended its "business relationship" with the hotel after seeing the video, and is extending prayers for the woman's well-being.
It also said it has "received reassurance that a thorough investigation by the [Winnipeg Police Service] is underway."
The Southern Chiefs' Organization and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak also supported the call for a thorough police investigation, saying in their statements that they support calls for patients to not have to stay at the hotel.
"I feel saddened by what [the woman] experienced," Southern Chiefs' Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said in the statement.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak also called for staff at the hotel to take cultural sensitivity training.
"The appalling treatment of this woman by hotel staff is a clear example of the systemic issues that contribute to the vulnerability of Indigenous women and girls and sheds light on the larger issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls," the organization's statement said.
Videos circulating on social media appear to show people going downstairs during the rally and ransacking the hotel's basement area, including breaking open storage lockers.
Gina Contois emerged from the basement with some items, including women's clothing and shoes.
"I found them in a locker downstairs … I was actually lost, but I found these in a locker," Contois said emotionally.
'A lot of pain and suffering'
Sisters Ashlyn Anderson-Williams and Denaya Anderson — who are from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, which is based in Nelson House in northern Manitoba — were among those in the crowd for Sunday's rally.
"I'm here because what happened at this hotel was wrong," Anderson-Williams said.
"My heart, it hurt. I was so devastated because these things happen all the time," Anderson said.
"We want to know more … there's a lot of pain and suffering."
Chancy said officers were called to the hotel twice on Christmas Day.
The first call happened at about 10:30 a.m., when police were asked to remove an adult female, who was not a hotel guest and was considered to be trespassing. Police didn't respond to that call, Chancy said.
A hotel employee called again at about 1:10 p.m. Around that time, Chancy said the woman allegedly attempted to stab an employee with a knife.
An employee then zip tied her until police arrived, he said.
While people can hold others under the law when making a citizen's arrest, Chancy said it's not clear that what is shown in the video could be classified as a citizen's arrest.
Wrist ties can be used to restrain people during citizen's arrests, he added, noting he was speaking in general terms about those kinds of arrests and not in connection with the video.
"Is it preferable to use handcuffs? Of course. However, in the circumstance, if that is what is available to people involved to safely restrain the person to prevent harm to themselves or others, that is acceptable — not preferred but acceptable," Chancy said.
With files from Karen Pauls, Gavin Axelrod and Erin Brohman