Responses flood in after Sask. premier asks for racist comments to stop after shooting

Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall's plea for people to stop posting racist comments following the slaying of an Indigenous manhas sparked a flurry of raciallycharged comments on his Facebook page.

Hundreds of responses streamed in after Wall said racist and hate-filled comments on social media and other forums must stop.

"These comments are not only unacceptable, intolerant and a betrayal of the very values and character of Saskatchewan, they are dangerous," Wall wrote in a Facebook post Sunday.

"There are laws that protect citizens from what this kind of hate may foment. They will be enforced."

Wall's call to tone down the rhetoric was in reference to the case of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Indigenous man who was shot to deathlast Tuesday on a rural property near Biggar, which is nearly100 kilometres west of Saskatoon.

A man associated with the property, Gerald Stanley, 54, is charged with second-degree murder.

• Boushie remembered as 'good guy' at funeral on a Sask. First Nation

• Family devastated after Colten Boushie shot and killed on farm near Biggar, Sask.

According to RCMP, five people were in a vehicle that came into afarmyard in the Rural Municipality of Glenside around 5:30 p.m. CST. The owners of the property did not know the people in the vehicle. A verbal exchange happened and a shot was fired, striking a man in the vehicle.

Following the events, hateful conversations emerged online about the people in the vehicle, with some commenters making accusations about why the groupwas at thefarmyard.

Chiefs accuse RCMP of fuelling racial tensions

On Friday, theFederation of Soveriegn IndigenousNations said the RCMP's media release made it appear that Boushie's killing was justified. The federation blamed the RCMP releasefor the wave of recent raciallycharged social media posts.

• RCMP respond to FSIN statement on fatally shot Indigenous man

Supt.Rob Cameron said theRCMPis deeply concerned the federationfound the media release to be biased andwould be reaching out to the organization to "work together and move forward."

IfWall was hoping to pour oil on troubledwaters, it appears there's a mixed result.

Some people congratulated him for taking a stand on an issue that has polarized some members of the public.

"You are the great leader Brad! As a new Canadian, I'm highly impressed by your anti-racist view in Saskatchewan," was one response.

Others criticized the premier.

"I am deeply offended though that you'd support laws that infringe upon peoples' freedom of speech especially in the face of a calamity such as this," one person wrote.

Many commenters were angry, focusing on the actions of the man who was charged or the five people who entered the property on the day of the shooting.

Racism, from both an Indigenous and a non-Indigenous perspective, was a common theme.

"Wannastop racism? Revamp those obsolete treaties and make every adult in Saskatchewan pay taxes.A society that treats people differently because of their race is an unjust society," acommenterwrote.

"The issue isn't all about racism but about this 'white privilege'(if I am I allowed to say 'white') that colonization has created on these Indigenous lands," another person wrote.

"Is the racism of white people from the native people going to be tolerated still 'cause I've been called more names by Natives than I can count," one man said.

More than 500 comments appeared on Wall's page in response to his request.

RCMPmonitoring onlinecomments

A spokesperson for the RCMP'sFdivision said it is "actively investigating" all social media posts for hate speech. They have not laid any charges.

Robert Innes, a University of Saskatchewan Indigenous studies professor in Saskatoon, said he's not surprised by racist posts in Saskatchewan on social media it's the openness that surprises him.

"A lot of these people making these comments are not making them from false accounts these are theirown personal accounts and they feel perfectly safe and comfortable expressing these views publicly. That part is surprising," Innes said.

He said the premier showed leadership by speaking out.

"We as a society, we have to really acknowledge that there is racial tension in this province and we have to really deal with those racial tensions," Innes said.

"We live in this province together, we need to work on this together.Certainly white people have to work on their views on Indigenous people. Indigenous people have our own work to do," Innes said.

A funeral for Boushie was held on the weekend.

Meanwhile, Stanley is scheduled to appear in court in North Battleford on Thursday.