A few family and friends of Boden Umpherville stand outside the Prince Albert Police Station. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By paNOW Staff

A call for answers

Friends and family of man tased by police, stage public protest

Apr 28, 2023 | 8:56 PM

A cousin and other people who cared deeply about Boden Umpherville, took time on Friday to demonstrate outside the main Prince Albert Police Station.

The small group made signs and held them up for drivers heading east on the street, getting some honks in return.

Charmaine Umpherville said Boden took care of those around him.

“Boden was a person to look after everybody else. He was very willing to do so and make sure everybody was protected” she said. “He made sure there was no violence toward anybody that he met.”

It was important for her to do what she could to make sure officers are held accountable for their actions, she said.

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She wasn’t interested in talking to anyone from the police right now as her pain is still too fresh.

“He did not deserve that. No one deserves violence and murder,” Charmaine said.

Support for Umpherville was recently scrawled on a midtown building. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Karen Jane McCallum, another demonstrator, said she would like to know that police officers are treating people fairly.

“I would like for them to not treat our Indigenous people like that. We are human, we have feelings,” she said.

Boden Umpherville died on Apr. 26, almost a month after an attempted arrest by Prince Albert Police officers resulted in the use of tasers and Umpherville being forcefully removed from a car.

His funeral is scheduled for Monday in Prince Albert and Charmaine says that afterwards, she will be back demonstrating.

Umpherville was in a vehicle that had been reported stolen, but the licensed owner was in the vehicle at the time of the arrest.

A loaded handgun was also recovered from the incident scene and has now been secured as an exhibit.

The circumstances that led up to the incident, and whether any officers will face discipline, are part of an ongoing investigation by the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team. There has been no timeline provided for how long the investigation will take.

At the time of the incident, Umpherville had a bench warrant out for his arrest. The numerous charges from the Saskatoon and Prince Albert areas included driving while prohibited, possessing stolen property and there were multiple breaches of release conditions from a previous sentence.

As part of a three year sentence Umpherville received in 2020 for assault and participation in a criminal organization, he also received a lifetime prohibition from owning or possessing a firearm.

paNOW learned on Friday, the Crown had signed a stay of proceedings on all of Umpherville’s current charges.

panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow