Security firm doing 'internal review' following altercation at Yellowknife library
CBC
The City of Yellowknife says a review is underway following an incident Tuesday at its downtown library involving security personnel and a member of the public.
It comes in the wake of a video that was circulating on social media and appeared to show a security guard hitting and shoving a man at the library. The video has since been taken down.
The 20-second clip appeared to show a man in a vest marked "security" in an altercation with a man wearing a black coat and backpack. It does not show what led to the altercation.
“Get away from me, man,” a person can be heard saying in the video, before the security guard hits the man in the black coat across the head and shoves him into a bookshelf. The security guard then pulls out a baton and tells the man to stay down before physically holding him down.
Shawnna Lamouelle was at the library when the incident happened and she also has a video that she shared with CBC News. Lamouelle's video appears to show more of the interaction between the security guard and the other man, including the moments before the guard hit the man.
The longer video shows the man appearing to aggressively confront the security guard who is asking him to leave the library. The man then appears to shove the security guard, who responds by hitting the man and pushing him into the bookshelf, as shown in the other video.
According to Lamouelle, the man had been sleeping in the library while charging his phone before the security guard woke him and asked him to leave. She described how things escalated from there.
"The guy grabbed his phone, saying, 'let's go outside' to the security guard, and then pushed him up to the wall," said Lamouelle. "That's when the security [guard] slapped him and pushed him on the ground and that's when they started fighting."
In an email to CBC News, Yellowknife RCMP said they received a report early Tuesday afternoon about a fight at the library. They said officers found an intoxicated man in an altercation with security staff.
Police say the intoxicated man was arrested and later released. They said no one was injured and the investigation remains open.
The Calgary-based security company that staffs the library, Risk Control Canada, declined to comment to CBC News.
A statement from the city on Wednesday morning says it is aware of the incident, and of the video that was circulating on social media. It says the city "takes all such incidents seriously."
The statement also says the security firm, which it does not name, "has initiated an internal review" of what happened. The city says it will provide more information once that review is done.
In 2019, the city beefed up security at the library after a fight between two men caused hundreds of dollars in damages.
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