Surrey RCMP Corporal Elenore Sturko says police sa国际传媒渄onsa国际传媒檛 have enough evidencesa国际传媒� to support an assault charge in connection with an argument between a group of elderly women and other park goers that occurred at Aspen Park in Newton on July 28 that has gone viral with allegations of racism.

Still, an investigation continues. sa国际传媒淲e have done a neighbourhood canvass to see if there is any other video, surveillance video available,sa国际传媒� Sturko said. sa国际传媒淥f course responses change based on revolving information.sa国际传媒�

Sturko said a sa国际传媒渢hird partysa国际传媒� called police about a disturbance at the park but no allegations of racism had originally been reported to police. sa国际传媒淚t came in as a disturbance with a group of 20-something year old men shouting at a group of elderly South Asian woman. When officer got there, there was no group of young men.

Sergeant Elenore Sturko

sa国际传媒淗e found there was a woman there and another man who were in a dispute over garbage with the group of South Asian women and their grandkids. He determined that some garbage was thrown in the general direction of the women and no assault had taken place, he confirmed that at the time.sa国际传媒�

Sturko said the officer spoke to the woman who allegedly threw the garbage onto the ground, and the woman then left the park. sa国际传媒淭he officer started cleaning up the garbage and invited the young kids that were also there to assist if they wanted to,sa国际传媒� and then concluded the file. Several days later, a social media post, posted on Instagram by a third party who Sturko said was not there at the time of the incident.

After , RCMP decided to assign a couple of officers to sa国际传媒渕ake contact if they couldsa国际传媒� with all involved and are continuing to investigate. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 believed that it actually was a dispute that started to emerge over a few different encounters.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淪ome of the information that we got from social media may not be accurate,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淗owever, what can be seen was that there was some racialized language being used in that disturbance and thatsa国际传媒檚 obviously concerning and so itsa国际传媒檚 something that we have been speaking about with all the parties that were involved and certainly donsa国际传媒檛 condone any of that activity.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淪ome of the allegations that were made on the social media post were not substantiated with the interviews that we did,sa国际传媒� Sturko added. sa国际传媒淭here was allegations on there that people had dog excrement thrown at them and on them, and french fries in their faces and stuff like that but none of the women who were part of the group, they did not provide that as part of their statement.sa国际传媒�

Sturko expressed surprise upon learning of news reports Monday that indicated the couple subsequently offered an apology through the RCMP.

sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 know where they get their information because thatsa国际传媒檚 not a question they asked me,sa国际传媒� she said.

Meantime, Imtiaz Popat, co-founder of the Coalition Against Bigotry-Pacific, issued a press release Aug. 3 titled sa国际传媒淪urrey RCMP is Part of the Racist Problem.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淪urrey RCMP dismissed the racist attack over the weekend and Aspen Park and blamed the South Asian grandmothers for littering and forced them to pick up garbage that was thrown at them by racists,sa国际传媒� Popat claimed.

Sturko replied that is incorrect. sa国际传媒淣o one was forced, I think itsa国际传媒檚 important to note that the officer was trying to defuse a situation, a neighbourhood dispute. He was unaware of the racialized comments at that time.sa国际传媒�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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