RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki tried to ‘jeopardize’ mass murder investigation to advance Trudeau’s gun control efforts

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki “made a promise” to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair and the Prime Minister’s Office to leverage the mass murders of April 18/19, 2020 to get a gun control law passed.

A week after the murders, Lucki pressured RCMP in Nova Scotia to release details of the weapons used by the killer. But RCMP commanders in Nova Scotia refused to release such details, saying doing so would threaten their investigation into the murders.

The Trudeau government’s gun control objectives were spelled out in an order in council issued in May 2020, and were encapsulated in Bill C-21, which was tabled last month, but the concern in April 2020 was the extent to which politics threatened to interfere with a cross-border police investigation into how the killer managed to obtain and smuggle into Canada four illegal guns used to commit many of the 22 murders.

加拿大皇家骑警随后学会了杀手付给一名名叫尼尔·加利文（Neil Gallivan）的男子，在缅因州霍尔顿（Houlton）的2019年枪支展上购买了一支突击风格的步枪。杀手还从一个名叫Sean Conlogue的亲密朋友和收藏家那里获得了两只非法手枪。

No charges have been laid against either Gallivan or Conlogue, and it’s still unclear why.

“Reduced to tears”

But the Mounties didn’t have that information on April 28, 2020 — just one week after the murders — when Nova Scotia Supt. Darren Campbell briefed journalists at a news conference.

与首席Supt的较早简报相比。克里斯·皮莱斯（Chris Leather）是犯罪行动负责人，坎贝尔（Campbell）即将到来。他回答了有关谋杀案的时间表，枪手的可能动机以及亲密伴侣丽莎·班菲尔德（Lisa Banfield）的状况和作用的问题。

On the firearms question, Campbell told journalists he “couldn’t get into details… because the investigation is still active and ongoing,” except to confirm the gunman had several semi-automatic handguns and two semi-automatic rifles.

Shortly after the news conference Campbell, Asst. Commander Lee Bergerman, Leather, and Nova Scotia Communications director Lia Scanlan were summoned to a meeting. RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki and a deputy from Ottawa were on the conference call. Lucki was not happy.

Campbell’s handwritten notes made immediately following that meeting describe what happened:

专员显然很沮丧。她没有提高自己的声音，但她的单词选择表明她对我们的工作的总体不满。专员指责我们（我）不遵循她的指示来不尊重她。我一直对此感到困惑。The Commissioner said she told Comms to tell us at H Division to include specific info about the firearms used by [the killer]….However I said we couldn’t because to do so would jeopardize ongoing efforts to advance the U.S. side of the case as well as the Canadian components of the investigation. Those are facts and I stand by them.

Campbell noted that Lucki went on at length and said she was “sad and disappointed” that he had not provided these details to the media. Campbell continued:

该专员说，她已向公共安全部长和总理办公室保证，加拿大皇家骑警（我们）将发布此信息。我试图解释说，没有任何意图不尊重任何人，但是我们目前无法发布此信息。然后，专员说，我们不明白，这与持续的枪支管制立法有关，这将使官员和公众更安全。她非常沮丧，副专员（Brian）Brennan试图使事情平静下来，但这几乎没有影响。在这种嘲笑的谴责中，房间里的一些人沦为眼泪和情绪化。

让公众死亡损失

A document released by the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) today — “Public Communications from RCMP and Government After Portapique” — indicates there were earlier sources of tension between National RCMP Headquarters in Ottawa and ‘H’ Division in Nova Scotia over how information concerning the victims would be controlled.

Lia Scanlan是新斯科舍省加拿大皇家骑警的战略传播总监。她告诉委员会，全国皇家骑警总部意识到计划在2020年4月19日星期日晚上6点举行新闻发布会，“明确表示我们正在进行所有通讯”。

During this first surreal briefing only hours after the gunman and been shot and killed by police, most of the focus was on the murder of RCMP Cst. Heidi Stevenson rather than the murders of multiple civilians. Only 10 minutes into the press conference, and in response to a reporter’s question, Chief Supt. Chris Leather shocked most Nova Scotians when he confirmed there were “in excess of 10 victims.”

Leather had been told one hour before the briefing there were at least 15 confirmed victims at 15 crime scenes, with the possibility of more. Many who watched the live briefing observed the RCMP officer appeared like a deer caught in headlights.

但是新斯科舍省“ H”部门无法控制该信息。

加拿大皇家骑警局长布伦达·卢西（Brenda Lucki）违反了协议的协议协议，在周日晚上，同意对记者进行一对一的访谈。在晚上7:36，CBC新闻引用了卢西（Lucki）指出有13名受害者。CTV报道说，勒克（Lucki）说了14名受害者。在晚上7:56，加拿大媒体引用了卢西（Lucki）确认包括枪手在内的17人死亡。

The public and the press corps were both confused and alarmed.

“So how does it happen that Commissioner Lucki….?”, MCC lawyer Krista Smith started to ask Communications director Lia Scanlan during an interview last February.

“I don’t know, ask National Headquarters,” retorted Scanlan.“The commissioner releases a body count that we (Communications) don’t even have. She went out and did that. It was all political pressure. That is 100% Minister Blair and the Prime Minister. And we have a Commissioner that does not push back.”

在周日晚上10:21，Lia Scanlan通过加拿大皇家骑警国家总部的高级传播经理Sharon Tessier和两名同事要求他们与Lucki谈论发布受害者信息：

我可以要求我们停止改变全国矿工工会吗ber of victims. Please allow us to lead the release of information. It looks fragmented and inconsistent. I spoke with the Commanding Officer tonight and we will be updating this tomorrow.

我们知道在新闻发布会时，它超过10个（受害者），但这就是我们为该活动所付出的目标。这是我们明天的计划，以更新我们的成员继续工作并发现更多犯罪现场和身体。数量的变化导致我们的手机响起了……

For consideration, Lia

Despite the frustration of journalists and citizens trying to grasp the magnitude of what had happened in northern Nova Scotia, the reporting of the number of deceased would continue to change over the next couple of days.

在4月20日星期一下午2点举行的第二次新闻发布会上，皮革说：“我可以确认有19名受害者，但我们预计可能会有更多。”Asked why, Leather suggested that because so many homes had burned to the ground, it might take longer to find and identify other victims.

That sounded reasonable. Unfortunately, it didn’t square with notes from the Major Crimes Investigation unit. The notes show Investigators had confirmed 22 victims as of 11pm the previous Sunday night. At the 2pm news conference Monday afternoon, RCMP in Nova Scotia said they could not release the names of the civilian victims until the Medical Examiner had completed forensic identifications. But by 5:25pm that same day, the MCC document shows all next-of-kin families of victims had been notified so there was no compelling reason not to release the names.

Ultimately, the RCMP didn’t release the names until after media outlets, including the Halifax Examiner, had independently reported them.

In Ottawa, Public Safety minister Bill Blair and Commissioner Lucki conducted their own media briefing on Monday at 2:30pm.

The senior Communications manager from RCMP HQ, Sharon Tessier, had called Nova Scotia Comms earlier in the day to say HQ supported releasing the names of all victims. During his briefing Blair announced that the killer’s victims included “a nurse, a teacher, corrections officers, a serving police officer, parents, neighbours, and friends.” Blair and Lucki talked about “18 lives” being lost, adding to the inconsistency and confusion over how large a tragedy had occurred.

On Tuesday April 21, RCMP in Nova Scotia posted information on its Facebook account that named the communities where the killer had taken lives and confirmed a total of 23 victims. Later in the day that number was adjusted to 22 and the revised post acknowledged the killer had been shot and killed by police.

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