Braid: Jon Wells' death hangs like shroud over Truth and Reconciliation Day

The use of police force against Indigenous people is by no means unusual. Community leaders say the entire Canadian policing system owes a general, national apology

A dark shadow hovered over Truth and Reconciliation Day in Calgary on Monday.

The fine words and grand promises did nothing whatever for Jon Wells, a Blood Tribe man who died after an altercation with police less than two weeks ago.

In the Carriage House hotel lobby at 1 a.m. on Sept. 17, Wells was unarmed as he faced police. He repeated, “I don’t want to die.”

He was Tasered, tackled, punched in the head, placed face down in a mask and injected, according to a statement from the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.