Colten Boushie (October 31, 1993 – August 9, 2016) was a 22-year-old Indigenous man of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation who was fatally shot on a rural Saskatchewan farm by its owner, Gerald Stanley. Stanley stood trial for second-degree murder and for a lesser charge of manslaughter, but was ultimately acquitted in February 2018.
Boushie was a resident of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation. After getting a flat tire, he and four friends drove to a farmhouse near Biggar, Saskatchewan, owned by Stanley. They had been drinking and had earlier tried to break in to a truck at another farm. One of the group tried to steal an ATV on the property while Stanley and his son were outside. Stanley's son ran to the vehicle and used a hammer to smash the windshield. The people in the SUV attempted to take off and crashed their vehicle into one of Stanley's cars. Stanley reacted by going into his home, returning with an old handgun, and firing two shots into the air. Two of the individuals in the SUV fled on foot, while Boushie moved to the front seat. Stanley then approached the SUV – with Boushie in the driver's seat – when the gun discharged. Boushie was shot in the neck just below the ear and died instantly. Stanley's defence claimed the shot was an accident and the gun's trigger was not pulled. Instead, the defence argued a third round loaded into the magazine was fired, yet failed to detonate, precipitating a hang fire.
The circumstances of the shooting, the RCMP investigation, the trial, and the verdict are flashpoints of controversy in Canada. The case drew significant attention, sparking protests and provoking debates about racism in Saskatchewan and across Canada. People who supported Stanley generally perceived the trial as fair, given the circumstances of events leading up to the shooting. Supporters of the Boushie family felt the trial was unfair due to the selection of what appeared to be an all-white jury. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister of Justice Jody Wilson-Raybould denounced the verdict. Critics scorned these comments for politicizing the trial and discrediting the Canadian judiciary system. The mayor of Saskatoon, Charlie Clark, said the trial and its aftermath represented "a defining moment for this community and this country".
Legislation eliminating peremptory challenges from jury selection was enacted in 2019 and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in the October 2020 case R v Chouhan. Two 2021 reports by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that RCMP's death notification to Boushie's family had been discriminatory and noted serious investigative and communications failures in an otherwise professional response.
Background
Colten Boushie (October 31, 1993 – August 9, 2016) was a resident of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation of Saskatchewan.
According to the police Information To Obtain warrant (ITO), which was produced in the early stages of the investigation and obtained by The Globe and Mail on August 9, 2016, 22-year-old Colten Boushie and his girlfriend Kiora Wuttunee, Belinda Jackson and her boyfriend Eric Meechance, and Cassidy Cross-Whitstone, all from the Red Pheasant First Nation, had spent the day swimming, drinking, and shooting at the Maymont River. Wuttunee's grey 2003 Ford Escape SUV got a flat tire.
The ITO stated that Boushie's group first visited a neighbouring farm belonging to the Fouhy family, where they "attempted to steal vehicles and items" by trying to smash the window of a truck with a .22 calibre rifle. Cross-Whitstone broke the stock of the rifle in this failed attempt. They then drove on to Gerald Stanley's property near Biggar, Saskatchewan, in the Rural Municipality of Glenside No. 377, which is about from their home.
When the SUV entered the Stanley property, Gerald Stanley and his son Sheldon were repairing a fence, while Stanley's wife Leesa was mowing the lawn not far away. The SUV's occupants first entered a truck belonging to one of Gerald's customers, then mounted an ATV. Sheldon chased them away and smashed the SUV's windshield with a hammer. It "crashed into Stanley's wife's car and came to a halt".
Stanley took a semi-automatic handgun from his shed, loaded it and "fired warning shots in the air" as Cross-Whitstone and Meechance ran from the ATV and fled the property. Sheldon Stanley went into the house to get his truck keys.