By Deng Elijah,
Feb 27, 2022 — On February 19th, 2022, the Calgary Police Service shot and killed Latjor Tuel, a South Sudanese-Canadian who was struggling with mental health, killing him on the scene at 17th Avenue S.E. near 44th Street in Calgary, Alberta. The death of Mr. Tuel, unlike any other past incidents that the South Sudanese-Canadian or the black community suffered in Calgary or in Canada as a whole, raised many concerns.
Before I dive into the rest of the article, I must mention that I knew Latjor Tuel in person. I first met Latjor through work as a private language constructor at the Surrey Provincial Court, British Columbia, in 2012 where I helped him resolve a small hiccup that he had in the justice system. Although he was qualified to get a legal aid lawyer, he stood up as a self-rep, trusting on his instincts and my services, perhaps because he did not know his rights to a lawyer or how to navigate the legal aid to obtain one.
This was going to be the third time his case was going to be adjourned for up to six months within two years, a critical piece of information that the judge did not get to know until his case was almost adjourned again. Less than two hours later, he was found not guilty and he was acquitted of all charges, a ruling that restored his broken trust in the legal system and made mr. Tuel a proud citizen who appreciates what the Justice System, or Canada as a country, offers; however, now that he died a brutal death in the hands of the police men, his death does not only jeopardize the trust of his immediate relatives, friends or members of the South Sudanese community in the law enforcement and Justice System but our trust as Canadians in our armed agencies.
Background to Tuel’s Death,
According to existing reports, police arrive on scene at 17th Avenue S.E. near 44th Street just after 3:30 p.m after “several calls” were made to police on Saturday afternoon alleging that Tuel had allegedly assaulted “someone” in Forest Lawn with a stick. The police also alleged that he had a knife.
The police, however, denied knowing or recognizing Tuel when they arrived at the scene and further claimed that they did not know or establish the facts that he was suffering from mental health problems.
Video and Police Argument
According to a video of the incident that emerged on social media, the deceased could be seen sitting near the sidewalk holding his stick while the police stood from a distance trying to order him to comply with arrest orders. When Tuel tried to get up, he was met with bullets, which the police argued were rubber bullets, in an attempt to neutralize and disarm him; however, they said they failed to subdue him.
Another officer claimed he tried to use a taser on Tuel when he approached them but that did not subdue him either.
According to police chief, Mark Neufield, two officers resorted to firing their service weapons, using live bullets, when Tuel stabbed a police dog in the neck with the knife.
Asked why the police did not use mental health resources or more appropriate measures before the situation escalated to use of lethal weapons, the police chief argued that Tuel was armed and had committed an assault, and therefore, the police were the appropriate resource to use.
“This situation involved a person, armed with weapons, who had committed an assault,” said Chief Mark Neufeld on Tuesday. “This was a police call and police were the appropriate resource.”
“The call the police responded to was not, when reported, about mental health,” Neufeld said. “It was a complaint of an assault involving a man in possession of a knife and a stick.”
Does the Police Argument makes sense?
Although a lot of information remains under investigation, and none of us wishes to speculate on what was done right or wrong by the police at this time, no charges have been laid against the police who perpetuated Tuel’s death and no serious actions have been taken by the Calgary Police Services so far. Until then, the community shall continue to demand Justice and more stringent actions to ensure that mistakes like this never recur again.
In an attempt to get away with a murder in a broad daylight, the police’s argument is framed to appear that their action is: (1) in “public Interest” and that (2) Tuel was killed in self-defense; however, there are enough direct evidence that their actions do not meet minimum thresholds for these two arguments. In any case, all the officers, who were involved in the death of Mr. Tuel, should be charged and brought before a judge or a jury to determine if their actions are legally justified.
Nonetheless, the South Sudanese-Canadian and the rest of the African-Canadian community still believe that Canada is one of the countries in the world with a just and fair Justice System; however, if this particular case slips through the cracks of our judicial systems, then that would be a fat miscarriage of justice. This will set a bad precedent and affect community-police relations not only in Alberta but all over Canada.
Systemic Barriers and Systemic Discrimination
The question of whether or not racism might have played a role in Tuel’s death has already been answered by those who spoke before us including the police chief, Mark Neufield, Calgary Mayor, Jyoti Gondek, other members of the South Sudanese community and friends; however, the question of mental health is not well addressed, and that will be visited shortly!
The police chief admitted that systemic barriers or systemic discrimination might have played a role “at some point” but denied that the police did not use lethal weapons on Tuel because of his skin color, saying:
“Was there systemic barriers or systemic discrimination that led to this situation at some other point? That may very well be,” said Neufeld “but in terms of the officers who responded to the situation and the manner in which they responded, I am absolutely confident this did not have anything to do with the colour of Mr. Tuel’s skin.”
“Certainly I think we’re well positioned with our Diversity Advisory boards and the work we do with the community,” he told the commission. “In our anti-racism committee, I think we have the mechanisms there to be able to get that cultural sensitivity and to incorporate those pieces into our training. But again, these situations, I would suggest, are far from perfect. And they’re very dynamic when they occur.”
Obviously Chief Neufeld has a clear motive to defend the perpetrators under his leadership and it’s highly expected of him or any police chief but it will be up to the judge or jury to determine if elements of racisms, i.e. racial stereotypes, perpetuated the killing of Mr. Tuel; otherwise, it may never make sense to many Canadians to believe that one man, who did not possess superior weapons and appeared to have mental health disorders, could have been of a greater threat to more than five well-trained policemen who were fully armed with guns and k-9 dog(s).
Mental Health
The South Sudanese Canadian community is battling mental health problems and the community is fully aware of it but it’s one of the issues that remains unaddressed despite that it’s the main cause of death in this community, not only in Canada but also in the United States of America and Australia.
Like Tuel, many South Sudanese immigrated to western world after horrific experiences in Sudan and refugee camps in the neighboring countries where they fled to to seek refuge before being settled in their current countries of residence, which they now called home.
The wars, depression and trauma they were exposed to, most of them at a very early age, plus the stress and cultural shock they are going through here in Canada, have developed into posttraumatic stress disorders(PTSD), schizophrenia, bipolar and other mental health disorders.
While earlier life experiences such as those of child soldiers may contribute to mental health problems significantly, there is not enough evidence that it is the dominant factor in mental health cases among the South Sudanese-Canadian community and therefore this shouldn’t be the sweeping generalization as it has been constantly reiterated by the police in Tuel’s death.
Although no significant studies have been carried out to determine the exact cause(s) of these mental health crises and to determine if the South Sudanese or refugee community could be suffering from mental health problems more than their counterparts(other communities), intellectuals and leaders of the Sudanese community attribute some, if not all, of the seemingly increasing mental health problems in the South Sudanese community to a failed integration and lack of resources to combat mental health problems.
Lastly, these are fundamental problems that deserve closer attention and more support from the government and agencies like law enforcement, and the wider Canadian community. These are problems that need tangible solutions and support, not lethal weapons or live bullets. Like Mayor Gondek put it, the death of Mr. Tuel is devastating and it will remain as such until it’s fully addressed:
“Loss of life in our city is tragic at any time, but the loss of Latjor Tuel is particularly devastating,” said Gondek in a Twitter thread. “Mr. Tuel was loved by friends and family, and was a well-known member of the Sudanese community in Calgary. He was in crisis and we are left with so many questions.”
“While we await an investigation, we question de-escalation methods and use of lethal force. We question why mental health support is not embedded within community policing. We question how to strengthen newcomer support services to deal with complex trauma.”
Conclusion,
In conclusion, the community will continue to corporate to work with the law enforcement agencies, justice system, immigration, local and federal authorities not only to seek fair justice for Mr. Tuel and his loved ones but also to address mental health crises, gun violence, diversity, cultural shock and youth crisis affecting the South Sudanese community.
Deng Elijah is a leader of the South Sudanese community in Vancouver, BC, and a member of BC Public Service. All the views expressed here are those of the authors, and not of the BC Prosecution Services or Nyamilepedia. For more information, you reach the authors through email at dengsimon2000 at yahoo dot com.
