Monday at 4 PM, startling new details about the final moments of Eric Daniels were revealed by his brother Dallas Courchene, who says only Eric could have prevented his own death at the hands of Winnipeg police.
Listen here:
http://kickfm.blogspot.com/2010/03/interview-with-eric-daniels-brother-on.html
Courchene has himself been the target of threats from native radicals, after repudiating any allegations that the police shooting was racially motivated, stating that Daniels looked white, and posed a threat in the altercation on Sargent Avenue last Saturday March 6.
Daniels was shot once by police when he refused to drop a machete and walked to within 5 feet of police responding to a call. He allegedly only carried the weapon for self-defence from gangs, after leaving the Native Syndicate.
Courchene confirmed that Daniels, 28, was on probation for a drunken petty theft in Portage La Prairie and should not have been drinking -- but that was his lifelong weakness which led to repeated incarcerations. It was only in jail that he aligned himself with the NS out of fear for his well-being, and Courchene said his brother was not in any way a hardened gang member.
Daniels, after downing a few at the Maryland Hotel with his girlfriend, headed to the Flying Pizza at Arlington and Sargent when a confrontation occurred in front of a house on Home Street. Courchene claimed that contrary to earlier MSM reports, the trouble was started by the people at the house who had a beef with Daniels' girlfriend. Daniels drew the machete from his shoe box, said Courchene, but did not threaten the instigators with it, instead walking away. Courchene says two or more people from the house armed themselves with a bat and followed the couple verbally baiting Daniels, as someone from the house called police.
It was in response to that call, said Courchene, that police saw a frustrated and enraged Daniels whacking at a bench beside the pizza joint. Despite being ordered twice to drop the weapon, he did not comply and was shot to death.
Courchene stated that Eric moving to their home community of Long Plains ("no good influences") and all his stints in jail did nothing to rehabilitate his brother or help him deal with his alcohol addiction, and called into question the sincerity of efforts by the government and native chiefs to deal with the problems faced by First Nations, rather than empire-build and perpetuate the cycle.
Calling for the abolition of treaty rights and the dependency/welfare structure, Courchene endorsed the teachings of Morty Lefkoe who has promised to bring $150,000 worth of courses to the community in an effort to inspire aboriginals in Manitoba to take control and responsibility for their own choices in life.
"If Eric had made better choices, he'd still be alive".
Postscript: A comment left on the Kick_FM facebook page by Dallas:
Dallas Courchene Marty, thanks for the interview. I just want to clear this up before I get some more flak for it: there are good influences on my reservation. It was a live interview and I was nervous; I was just trying to make the point that some of the influences weren't the best. We all know this. Every reserve has problems, and it's time that we do something about it. If we want to help our children, we must have a positive focus and believe that we can do something about it.
The problem isn't gangs - my brother would tell me that they care about their families and want something better for them and themselves. He would even talk to them in jail about some of the ideas I shared with him, and they listened.
Every negative action always have positive intention behind them, and that's why some people have had negative reactions, calling me an Apple. But that's the furthest thing from the truth, what I did is a clear example of our 7 Sacred Teachings - Honesty, Humility, Truth, Courage, Love, Respect, and Wisdom. And I think it was either Tecumseh or Sitting Bull that said "Don't hate our white brother for what he does to us. Love and forgive them". And you know what? The people of Winnipeg have shown their support - when we Aboriginals hold to our teachings, people support us and real changes happen. ... See more
I choose not to focus on the negative - ever since this happened, many influential Aboriginal leaders and Chiefs have contacted me asking to help them with their projects of helping our youth, particularly those in the criminal justice system. And it's these people that are looking for solutions, not problems, which is why we will succeed.
