Eco-criminal's appeal alleging judge engaged in 'residential school denialism' dismissed

Kamloops: The Buried Truth

A new Rebel News documentary exposing the truth about the discovery of unmarked graves in Kamloops, British Columbia in 2021.

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The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed a case arguing that a judge’s sentence should be overturned due to bias for correctly referring to the 215 unmarked grave claim at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School as a “potential” discovery.

In 2020, Miranda Dick — a so-called “land defender” who, along with seven others, was arrested for obstructing the Trans Mountain pipeline development. Dick was later sentenced in 2023 by Judge Shelley Fitzpatrick to imprisonment for her crime, along with her father, a Secwépemc hereditary chief, and four others.

Although Dick served her 28-day sentence, she attempted to appeal the sentence on allegations that Judge Fitzpatrick was biased and a residential school denier for correcting her counsel, Benjamin Isitt, during the sentencing hearing after he incorrectly stated that Indigenous children’s bodies had been “unearthed” at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

As a Secwépemc woman, Dick’s heritage is closely connected to the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, which is largely responsible for the common misconception.

In 2021, that band government released the false statement that it had discovered the remains of 215 children who were students at the former residential school in unmarked graves, despite no such discovery being confirmed to date.

The truth found in our documentary about the “discovery” of 215 buried children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School is now free for you to watch and share 👇🏾 https://t.co/zZ3vKsbQaO

— Drea Humphrey - Prepping and Politics (@DreaHumphrey) September 2, 2023

According to court documents, an uproar occurred in the court gallery after Fitzpatrick accurately corrected Isitt. The disturbance included accusations that Judge Fitzpatrick was racist and multiple individuals had to be escorted out of the gallery.

As if that weren’t disgraceful enough, Dick's lawyer, Isitt, later argued in the highest courts that Fitzpatrick's “potential” comment proved her to be biased and to have engaged in denialism.

In today's report, I walk you through Dick’s baseless arguments and the recently handed down reasons for dismissing her appeal by Indigenous Chief Justice Leonard Marchand.