Man accused of driving into B.C. residential school march guilty of dangerous driving

A antheral who struck respective radical participating successful a march commemorating residential schoolhouse survivors with his conveyance 2 years agone has been convicted of unsafe driving.

Richard Manuel was accused of hitting 4 radical with his pickup motortruck during the June 4, 2022, procession successful Mission, B.C.

Manuel admitted to being down the instrumentality but denied hitting radical with his truck.

“I don’t judge captious aspects of Mr. Manuel’s evidence,” Provincial Court Judge Edna Ritchie said Monday successful handing down her verdict.

Ritchie said Manuel’s relationship of the incidental was contradicted by the grounds of different witnesses.

She concluded that helium struck 3 radical with his truck, including 1 of the protest’s flaggers, and clipped a fourth.

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She besides recovered helium yelled radical slurs, and said helium did not attraction if helium ran radical over, including children.

During the trial, the tribunal heard astir 150 radical were making their mode from Mission’s Heritage Park to the tract of the erstwhile St. Mary’s Residential School and were connected Lougheed Highway erstwhile the incidental happened.

Crown prosecutors argued Manuel was aggravated astir the roadworthy being blocked, and responded by driving dangerously. Prosecutors argued Manuel was the aggressor successful the altercation and wasn’t successful imminent danger.

His defence argued helium was “not looking for a fight” and responded successful fright aft being accosted by demonstrators.

“They were successful his vehicle, they were accosting him. There were punches thrown,” lawyer Christopher Terepocki argued.