Forty-year-old Boden Umpherville is in hospital on life support, and isn’t expected to survive, after an incident with Prince Albert Police on April 1st. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and Umpherville’s family say he was the victim of excessive force.

Second Vice-Chief Edward Dutch Lerat says there are videos on social media which show Umpherville being tased multiple times and beaten. He was in the driver’s seat and there were two passengers including the vehicle’s registered owner. Prince Albert Police had reported the vehicle was stolen, but she says she never reported it stolen.

The FSIN reports that after Umpherville collapsed, he didn’t receive immediate medical attention until EMS arrived. Lerat says physicians provided the opinion that Umpherville’s state was accelerated because there was a 20-minute period where his heart stopped beating before being revived. He remains in hospital on life support with no brain activity.

Boden’s mother, Verna Umpherville says, “I just hope this never happens to any mother, what I have had to go through. So sad, my heart is broken for my son. I don’t know why their badges weren’t taken from them when these videos went out, like why are they still working?”

The Provincial Serious Incident Response Team is investigating. Nine officers were placed on a one-week leave of absence and are now back at work. The FSIN urges the Executive Director of SIRT and the Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety to do the right thing, be open and transparent and work hard to build the trust of First Nations.