The family of a 16-year-old Ojibway girl killed by Winnipeg police in 2020 is calling for a public inquiry into deaths of other Indigenous people at the hands of officers.<\/p>\n
“What I hope to come out of this is my daughter’s name to be more than just a headline,” Eishia Hudson’s father, William Hudson, said at a news conference Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“I want her name to make change, systemic change, within the systems that I believe \u2026 are broken.”<\/p>\n
The call for a broader inquiry comes after the inquest into his daughter’s death wrapped up last week.<\/p>\n
Those hearings looked solely at Eishia’s death, and examined whether systemic racism played a role and whether the police use of force was appropriate. The inquest judge is expected to deliver a final report with recommendations within six months.<\/p>\n
Lindsay LeBlanc, one of the lawyers who represented the family at the inquest, said Tuesday the hope behind the push for a more wide-ranging inquiry is to identify factors involved in other deaths that might help prevent similar incidents in the future.<\/p>\n
Eishia was shot and killed after a chase in a stolen vehicle on April 8, 2020.<\/p>\n
An agreed statement of facts prepared for the inquest said she was with a group of teens who robbed a Liquor Mart the day she was killed. One of those teens threatened to stab a security guard before the group took off in a stolen Jeep, driven by Eishia.<\/p>\n
Police started the pursuit after an employee reported the theft, describing the suspects as Indigenous youths, the agreed facts said.<\/p>\n
A report later prepared by the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth found Eishiadidn’t always get the support she needed<\/a> from the provincial government and school systems.<\/p>\n Others who spoke alongside Hudson at Tuesday’s news conference supported the call for an inquiry, including Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson.<\/p>\n Both Hudson and Wilson raised concerns in particular with the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, the police watchdog that investigated the officer who killed Eishia.<\/p>\n Const. Kyle Pradinuk told the inquest in February he thought his colleagues’ lives were in danger<\/a> when he fired two shots at the teen. The watchdog later recommended no charges<\/a> against the officer.<\/p>\n