EDITORIAL – Let’s get facts on kicking incident before we pass judgment

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

WE’RE ALWAYS WILLING to jump to conclusions well before the facts have been properly collected and assessed.

As revealed in a citizen video published yesterday by CFJC, there was a kicking incident outside the City’s homeless storage building on Victoria Street West across from City Hall.

The facility has become a popular hangout for street folks, who stand, sit or lay around outside the building.

It’s a bad situation, and needs to be rectified, either with a better location or with the “day lodge” concept proposed by some councillors. Until that happens, it will continue to be a trouble spot.

The video appears to show a security guard asking a man in a red jacket to move. The man shouts “F—- you!” at the guard, who throws the man to the ground and kicks him three times. As bystanders begin to converge, the guard tells them to back off.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.