cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3616486

Maskwacis, Alberta, Canada - Nadalie Lightning stares out of her living room window praying to wake up from what she describes as a nightmare. In the early hours of August 30, her 15-year-old grandson Hoss Lightning Saddleback was shot and killed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers after what the RCMP describe as a “confrontation” in the nearby city of Wetaskiwin.

Nadalie is devastated by the loss and struggling to understand how a call for help turned fatal. On the night of his death, Hoss had initially reached out to his grandmother in desperation.

"He was calling me that night. I missed 18 calls," Nadalie revealed, her voice breaking with emotion as the screen on her phone showed her grandson’s attempts to contact her. "He texted me right here at 1:01am, 'Can you come pick me up?' And then it's just, 'I called the police.'"

She had been the one who had always told her grandson to call the police if he was ever in trouble. According to an RCMP release, it was Hoss who had called them, believing people were following him and trying to kill him.

That afternoon members of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) showed up at her doorstep asking Nadalie to identify her grandson, one of a string of Indigenous people to have died during interactions with police in Canada since late August.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, the former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations RoseAnne Archibald, expressed her frustration at what she emphasised was a longrunning issue.

"[The First Nations have] been sounding the alarm bell for a long time - for many, many years,” Archibald said. “This has happened time and time again. They’re just trying to kill us off, it’s maddening. Is that the first way they deal with us, is violence towards us?”

Full article

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21039899

Jessica Washington
September 30 2024, 5:40 p.m.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13189597

Hypocrisy, thy name is liberal democracy?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19484886

Artists4Ceasefire, the industry collective that has been pushing for an end to the current war in Gaza (and whose pin badges were worn by various attendees at this year’s Oscars ceremony), is spearheading a new initiative calling for a halt to illegal arms sales to Israel.

Through a partnership with artist Shepard Fairey and several humanitarian organizations — including Oxfam America, ActionAid USA and War Child Alliance/Children in Conflict — the group has launched a call to action bearing the message “Ceasefire Now, Stop Weapons, Save Lives” that urges the halt to what it says are “weapons transfers that violate U.S. and international law.” Such laws state it is illegal to supply or use weapons to commit “grave human rights violations,” including striking schools or hospitals, restricting humanitarian aid, and killing children.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19376691

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a map of Israel that erases the occupied West Bank, marking it as Israeli territory, in an address to the media yesterday.

The Israeli premier appeared standing in front of a wall-sized digital map that obliterated the West Bank. Palestinians decried the move as an explicit annexation of the occupied territory by Tel Aviv.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/21754559

At least 10 Palestinians are killed in separate incidents in the north of the territory.

Archived version: https://archive.ph/lAwAb

SpinScore: https://spinscore.io/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fcvgrr0k7xkyo