Fatal Stabbing in Vancouver - Update

Update: It’s time to bring some common sense back to our justice system

OK there is a viral video of a fatal stabbing at a Starbucks in Vancouver and it is absolutely horrible. I'm not showing it. This needs to be a call to action for our obscenely unjust judicial system. There needs to be a significant consequence for that horrific act. Things need to change. Starting with Justin Trudeau. That was murder.

This brutal atrocity happened in broad daylight at a public place in front of women and children. That is not acceptable. However, there are two separate issues that arise from this. First is the brutal atrocity. The second is the fact that people are sharing snuff films all over social media.

I did not post the video and I will not post it nor will I share it. I posted a screenshot of the suspect so he can be identified. More than one person sent me the video because it's news that should be discussed. However, today I saw someone showing people the video on their phone. That is mentally deranged. How many times did they watch it? Thankfully many people simply said I don't want to see it. They said it's too disturbing and it is. Thankfully not everyone out there is DEVO.

Clearly this barbaric act requires a follow up. Fatal stabbings are not new but the fact that this was at Starbucks in front of women and children is. Every business has surveillance cameras and now everyone has cell phones they can film things on. Remember that mental case that was stabbing people on a Greyhound bus and tried to decapitate someone? Can you imagine if someone filmed that on their phone and people were sharing that video on social media? It would take a special kind of mental case to share that video on social media.

This murder reminds us of two other unresolved murders in Surrey and the nature of the law surrounding self defense. As we saw in the Amherst case, shooting someone in the back is not self defense. The Crown prosecutor who withdrew those charges should be charged with obstruction of justice. Sadly this is not the first time this has happened.

First let's review the senseless murder of Kyle Yellowbird. That one broke my heart. He was fatally stabbed and bled out on the sidewalk. His mother and stepfather held a candlelight vigil at the blood stained site every night for I don't remember how long. A mother who lived nearby shared with Kyle's mother her version of the events. She held him in his arms as he bleed out and passed on. She then embraced his mother with those same loving arms that held her son.

Kids were crossing the street. A car recklessly speeds past them and Kyle's friend kicks the car, that's how close it came. The man gets out of the car and starts pounding Kyle's friend. Kyle comes to his friend's assistance and the driver stabs Kyle in the heart. That is not self defense.

All he had to do was drive away. He initiated a physical confrontation. Stabbing someone in the heart is not self defense. It is premeditated murder. You know exactly what you're trying to do.

Years ago when Curtis asked us to restart a Vancouver chapter of the Guardian Angels, we did our use of force training with inspector John McKay from the VPD. He was a legend. He was explaining that the only time you are authorized to use lethal force is against a lethal attack. If someone threatens to kick your ass, you're allowed to fight him but you're not allowed to kill him.

We discussed takedowns and submissions. He said a rear naked choke is considered a lethal response and may only be used against a lethal attack. Lethal attack I exclaim? That's my favorite move. As soon as you lock on, the guy submits. Nobody gets hurt. He was clear a rear naked choke was considered a lethal response. So is stabbing someone in the heart.

Stabbing someone in the leg is very different then stabbing someone in the heart. Stabbing someone in the heart contains predetermined malicious intent. It's called murder. Just like what happened at Starbucks in Vancouver. It was a senseless murder.

Tragically, Crown prosecutors did not even charge Kyle Yellowbird's murderer just like in the Jamie Kehoe murder. The Crown withdrew the charges in that case as well. Those Crown prosecutors need to be fired and charged with obstruction. Stabbing someone in the heart is not self defense. It is a premeditated act of murder.

Fatal stabbing in Dublin

I knew a young man who was fatally stabbed in Dublin many years ago. He was actually a missionary. His name was Elder Critchfield. I met him when he first came out. He was a bright eyed good looking blond that was in good health. He was interested in my previous work with the Guardian Angels but I kind of downplayed it since we were there on a different kind of mission. Later on we went on trades with him and his companion. He was a good kid - a fine young man.

One night when he and his companion were walking home a couple of sketchy looking guys started following them. One of them comes up to Elder Critchfield and pushes him. Then when he steps back his companion saw something glisten in the moonlight. It was a knife. The guy had just stabbed him in the heart. There was nothing anyone could have done.

Here's the creepy part. Before he left on his mission, his father gave him a priesthood blessing. In that blessing he told his son that on the last day of his mission the savior would embrace him and say well done thou good and faithful servant. He had reminded his son of that promise in letters encouraging him to keep the mission rules so that he was worthy of that blessing. Surely they thought their son was going to have some kind of apparition like brother Joseph or over in Fatima. The prophecy came true just not the way they had hoped. He was murdered.