A former Canadian Tire employee won’t face criminal charges after a video emerged earlier this summer that appeared to show an Indigenous shopper accused of stealing, thrust against a shelf and kicked out of the store.
The incident sparked outrage in Regina, prompted protests and sparked a broader conversation about racial profiling in the community.
But a Crown prosecutor who reviewed the evidence determined Friday that there wasn’t enough information to proceed to trial.
“While the store employee may have been mistaken in his assessment of the situation, the Crown would not be able to prove, on the evidence available, that he was dishonest about that assessment,” the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice said in a statement.
Kamao Cappo live streamed the confrontation on Facebook in July. In the video, an employee can be seen accusing Cappo of trying to steal from the store and at one point appears to push him against a shelf. The worker later escorts Cappo out of the store.
Throughout the video, Cappo insists that he did nothing wrong.
Cappo told CTV Regina that he’s disappointed by the news.
“What I think about is those Indigenous children, Indigenous women (and) elders who face this injustice on a regular basis. And what’s the message to them? Even on videotape -- even if you videotape it -- you still can’t get justice,” he said.
Regina Police interviewed witnesses and reviewed the Facebook video as part of their investigation. Police said they tried to obtain security camera video from inside the Canadian Tire, but that footage was never made available.
Regina Police did not clarify why they were unable to obtain the video.
Canadian Tire has apologized for the incident and, in the days after the video emerged, said that the employee was “no longer with Canadian Tire.”
With files from CTV Regina
