An alleged case of violent vigilante justice has raised questions about racial intolerance in Winnipeg after a group of New Year's partiers beat an aboriginal man they claim was trying to steal neighbourhood cars.
Not long after the incident occurred early on New Year's Day, photos of a 21-year-old aboriginal man were posted on an online forum for Winnipeg car enthusiasts.
The photos, which were posted at WinnipegHeights.com, claimed to show the aboriginal man beaten, bloody and lying on the ground.
Accompanying the photos, which have since been removed from the site, was a message from a board user. In the message, the user wrote that while at a New Year's party, he spotted a man breaking into his friend's car at about 1:30 a.m.
After going back into his home to call the friend, the user wrote that he saw the alleged car thief trying to break into his own car, which was running and had his wife and young child inside.
A struggle ensued, pitting as many as six men against the alleged car thief.
Later, one user on Winnipegheights.com wrote that the aboriginal man "must have 'fallen' in the struggle and smashed his face into our boots."
A neighbourhood witness spotted the sequence of events.
"They threw him on the ground and they were holding him . . . kept him on the ground. There were a few scuffles and I said, 'Easy, the police are coming,'" neighbour Alex Kelly told CTV News.
The message board thread also suggested that someone involved at the scene had joked about binding the beaten man up with rope and throwing him into a nearby river.
The thread has since been removed, the pictures of the beaten man taken down, and new users can no longer join the website.
Police said they did go to the scene and make an arrest, but they said the aboriginal man was released without being charged.
However, aboriginal leaders are asking why police have not laid any assault charges against the other men involved, despite photos showing evidence of a serious beating.
The leaders are also threatening to launch a human rights complaint, which focuses on the racial slurs that were posted on Winnipegheights.com.
"You can't just put anything on the Internet and not have accountability when you're inciting hate and racism against our people," aboriginal activist Nahanni Fontaine told CTV News.
Meanwhile, police said they are responding to the allegations of racism.
"Those allegations will be thoroughly and completely investigated (and) we will be able to respond when that investigation is complete," said Jacqueline Chaput of the Winnipeg Police Service.
Sel Burrows, a Winnipeg activist who works in the city's roughest neighbourhood, said that the alleged vigilante attack was cowardly and un-Canadian.
"It reminds me of what's on American TV all the time, this macho stuff," said Burrows.
But Winnipeg is considered the car theft capital of Canada, and some residents seem to be supportive of taking the law into their own hands to deal with thieves.
"I think it's great. I don't think they should beat on someone, but if they want to restrain someone, sure," said one Winnipeg resident who didn't give his name.
"The guy was trying to get away. You've got to do what you've got to do."
With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Jill Macyshon
