Indigenous group meets with RCMP after memorial marchers allegedly hit by truck driver

The head of an Indigenous group says members have met with the RCMP in Chilliwack, B.C., to discuss how police plan to proceed after the driver of a pickup truck allegedly hit four people participating in a memorial march.

The head of an Indigenous group says members have met with the RCMP in Chilliwack, B.C., to discuss how police plan to proceed after the driver of a pickup truck allegedly hit four people participating in a memorial march.

Garett Dan, captain of the British Columbia chapter of the Crazy Indians Brotherhood, says the meeting at the Cheam First Nation band office went on for about four hours and got “out of hand” at one point as everyone sat in a circle.

Dan says there was anger over the alleged actions of a 77-year-old man who turned himself in on Monday, two days after some members of the group were allegedly hit while marching along a highway to draw attention to survivors of residential schools.

He says Andrew Victor, chief of the Cheam First Nation, began the meeting where eight members of the brotherhood met with four RCMP officers, including an inspector and sergeant, from both the Chilliwack and Mission detachments.

Dan says Indigenous members were distressed that the suspect was not in custody because they did not think they would be treated the same way.

The RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Dan says the Mounties conveyed that an investigation was underway to determine if charges would be laid against the man who turned himself in after the incident.