A Local Brandon Man is the Victim of a Hate Crime

By: Lulu Maria Garcia Manzano

Over the last few months as the death of George Floyd urged various countries to rally against police brutality and thousands of BLM protests took place, several protests took place here in Brandon. I attended a few over the summer and marched throughout Brandon protesting the injustice black people suffer at the hands of authority. Yet racism is still a part of our community and on September 3, 2020 at around 7:00 pm a group of five individuals (4 women one man) brutally attacked a Black man resulting in his hospitalization. The attack took place at the skate park on 9th and Princess. Bystanders filmed the altercation and the brutality of the attack has already been viewed by thousands of citizens in Brandon. As seen on the video first, the group begins by yelling racial slurs at the man and as he tried to leave in order to avoid any confrontation, they began to physically confront him, and a fight broke out. As the victim tried to defend himself, one of the women began to stab him. Luckily, the victim was taken to the hospital by a citizen before police arrived and he is expected to make a full recovery after an emergency surgery was performed on him.

With the use of a video taken by a witness police were able to locate two of the five suspects and make an arrest. One is a 23-year-old woman from Brandon, who is charged with Aggravated Assault with a Weapon, Mischief to Property Under $5000, Public Incitement of Hatred and Failing to Comply with a Release Order. The second suspect, a 20-year-old woman from Sioux Valley, is charged with Assault, Public Incitement of Hatred, Public Mischief and Failing to Comply with a Release Order. (Brandon Police Media Release). While the other three suspects are yet to be caught on a conference held on Friday Sept 4th by Brandon Police Staff Sgt. Bill Brown told media that Brandon police are ‘fairly confident’ they know the identities of two of three suspects still at large and are actively seeking them out. He also said that to his knowledge, it is the first time hate crime charges have been laid in the city.

A link to the video of the attack provided by Global News can be found below:

https://globalnews.ca/video/rd/9fa6eeba-eefd-11ea-b518-0242ac110003/?jwsource=cl

On September 6th, 2020 Brandon Police obtained arrest warrants for 36-year-old Steven Jason Huntinghawk (left) and 60-year-old Annie Rose Huntinghawk (right) in connection with Thursday's stabbing near the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skate Plaza in Brandon. Pictured below, citizens are encouraged to reach out to police in case they know their whereabouts.