WINNIPEG — Loved ones of a First Nations man who died in police custody say officers failed to help him when he needed it most.
Family and friends of Elias Whitehead, along with First Nations leaders in Manitoba and Ontario, held a news conference Thursday calling for changes to how police approach wellness checks. They also voiced concern about the force Winnipeg officers used while taking the 37-year-old into custody last month.
Police have said officers were called to the West Broadway neighbourhood shortly before 11 p.m. on Oct. 15 after receiving reports of a man"in distress running into traffic and acting erratically." Officers took him into custody, when he went into"medical distress," police said in a news release. The man was declared dead at a hospital.
Cellphone video from that night provided to local media appears to show at least two officers holding a man face down on the road while trying to restrain him. Officers appear to punch the man in the side of his body several times. Destiny Kitchekeesik, a community justice worker with Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and from Tataskweyak, said Whitehead was humble and respectful, and had"dreams" for himself and Beardy.
Smyth said the man was combative and acting erratically and"there was a struggle as officers used force to restrain and control the male."
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