The lawyer of the Arkangelo family, whose son was shot and killed by an Edmonton police officer in June, reacted to EPS’s request to restrict public access to the Arkangelo’s proceedings. He says it’s unprecedented.
“I think it’s unconstitutional to try to do something like this. Trying to shut down public access to court proceedings is a serious violation of the open court principle,” said Tom Engel, the lawyer representing Arkagelo’s family.
The application for court orders restricting media and public access to the Arkangelo proceedings was submitted by police chief Dale McFee and the unnamed officer involved in the shooting of 28-year-old Mathios Arkangelo in a northeast Edmonton neighbourhood on June 29.
“That officer is back on the job. The public should know who this officer is in case they even wind up dealing with him.”
Police have previously filed a statement of defence denying the lawsuit from the Arkangelo family. The statement of defence does not name any of the officers involved.
This is one of the reasons why EPS says it’s requesting restricted court access. According to the application “the interests of protecting the life of” the officer involved “outweighs the public interests of free expression and open and accessible court proceedings in the circumstances.”
“It’s just frankly laughable. It’s baseless. Under Chief McFee, they’ve been talking about this all the time. It’s just an excuse made up by McFee and the upper command of the Edmonton Police Service to shut down transparency with the Edmonton Police Service,” said Engel.
Arkangelo’s family and friends have been rallying outside EPS stations demanding justice for Matthew. The shooting has also gained significant public attention from the public and media. Police requesting an order to restrict court access because “the shooting has been framed on social media, as a “cold-blooded” killing, or an “execution that was motivated by Mathios Arkangelo’s race.”
Engel says, “McFee is very upset about the media attention and social media posts. And the protests. I’ll bet you they’re paying close attention to the protest. Wouldn’t surprise me if they get surveillance people there.”
CityNews reached out to Edmonton police for comment, but they said they won’t provide additional information.
Engel says, “This has to be an open court. It’s all gotta be done in public.”