Truck hits group in Mission, B.C. at residential school awareness march

Two people were hospitalized after a hit and run involving a truck on Saturday during a walk in Mission, B.C. to raise awareness about children who attended Canada’s residential schools. Participants in the Indigenous-led march take issue with the Mounties’ characterization of the incident as that of an “impatient driver.”

It happened around noon as the March for Recognition for Residential Schools was on its way from Heritage Park to the former St. Mary’s Residential School. Organizers say there were young children and elders in the crowd.

Several people were hit by a vehicle, including Troy Ingraldi.

“I was doing traffic control and the truck came speeding up,” Ingraldi said. “There were children in the righthand lane. I wanted to make sure the children were fine, so I stepped in front of the vehicle. He stopped and then continued to go. That’s when he ran me over.”

“We had children ranging from under two years old all the way into the teens. And then also there were elders at the back of the pack,” said Christopher Robertson with the Crazy Indians Brotherhood, which organized the march.

Robertson says after Ingraldi and another person were hit, he and two others approached the vehicle.

‘This gentleman pins it,’ Robertson recalled.

“The brother that was to my right went up and over the hood, landed on his feet. I jumped to the side. And the bumper hit my knee and kind of spun me around pretty good,” Robertson told CityNews.

After driving off for what Robertson estimates to be 100 yards, the driver stopped and exchanged words with the crowd.

“Whatever was said was obviously not very good, because a few people started trying to go towards him,” he said, adding the driver then left the scene.

Mission RCMP say the march caused delays to eastbound traffic along part of Lougheed Highway, as there was only one lane open and no place for drivers to pass.

“It sounds like this driver became upset that his trip was going to be delayed by a few minutes, and drove into oncoming traffic to try to get around the group,” said Mohr. “When faced with oncoming traffic, he drove his vehicle into the midst of the group until the cars went by, then pulled out and passed again. In doing so, he struck several members of the March.”

Robert Jago, who attended the march, shared photos and video of the aftermath of the incident on Twitter.

“The hit wasn’t when the lane was blocked, it was when people were being let through, and as we were marching on to reserve land at the residential school,” he wrote in his post.

Two people were hospitalized with what police describe as minor injuries.

Police say they have identified the licence plate of the vehicle involved, but no arrests have been made.

“Although we have identified the driver of the truck, similar to any criminal investigation there are many legal requirements and investigational strategies we need to consider before deciding whether to make an arrest, or to wait for Crown Counsel to approve charges first,” said Mohr.

“There is no indication that this incident was targeted, or that the driver’s actions had anything specifically to do with the people marching or their cause,” reads the RCMP statement.

While Robertson says he can’t speak to whether this was a targeted attack or what the motive for the driver’s actions was, “if it was any of us driving … We would have been arrested on site and been in custody and would still be in custody.”

Garett Dan, another participant in Saturday’s march, feels the same.

“If I did that, I can guarantee that I’d be in jail right now,” he told CityNews in a separate interview.

In a statement from Const. Harrison Mohr with the Mission RCMP, he said they realized it was a serious matter and they were going to investigate the matter accordingly.

“While we understand that some members of the public may want swift justice, as with any serious matter we need to let the evidence guide the investigation. Our officers are working hard to learn all of the facts, to ensure that we can provide the best evidence possible to Crown Counsel for charge assessment,” said Mohr.

Multiple witnesses tell CityNews only one officer responded to the scene, and that officer was provided video footage and photos from the scene.

https://twitter.com/rjjago/status/1533256967963086848

“We’re going to be gathering as much evidence as possible to determine the appropriate charges to recommend,” Const. Mohr said. “Trying to save a few minutes of time by endangering the lives of others is simply unacceptable.”

‘I don’t know why they would downplay something like that.’

Many witnesses take issue with RCMP saying this incident was due to the driver being “impatient.”

For his part, Dan feels police are diminishing the significance of what happened.

“I don’t know why they would downplay something like that,” he said.

“If I’m unhappy, I’m not going to take my truck and go run somebody over. The RCMP are saying he was in a hurry and he was unhappy … you know, other people are not happy. But they decided to pull a U-turn angle an go a different route … You can’t be putting anybody else’s life in jeopardy because you’re in a hurry.”

Dan hopes for the victims’ sake an arrest will be made.

“That’s somebody’s life as somebody’s dad, that’s somebody’s brother, that’s somebody’s son … You can’t do that, that’s not right.”

If you have any additional dashcam or cell phone footage of the incident, you’re asked to call Mission RCMP at 604-826-7161.

Related article: Charges approved nearly one year after fatal hit and run in Burnaby

The black truck was the only vehicle that made physical contact with the group, but Robertson tells CityNews other drivers were being aggressive or expressed disapproval.

“Three minutes prior to that, we had a jeep, another kind of SUV, and a couple of motorcycles go into oncoming traffic and kind of push oncoming traffic onto the shoulder. They got near the front of the line where myself and the other singers were. They slowed right down and all of them were shaking their heads at us. So this one person hitting us, sure that part sucks. But it’s those other four or five vehicles that went past there shaking their head at us. There’s a reason we march.”

He says some even shouted racist remarks.

“Awareness needs to be made. People need to recognize the genocide. People need to recognize how our people are constantly just pushed aside, swept under the rug.”

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