Another video that shows the horrific assault on a girl connected to the death of a 19-year-old within Winnipeg’s Sagkeeng First Nation surfaced on the social media platform for several hours on Wednesday.
CBC News has seen both short footage of the assault and a more lengthy one. The second video clearly shows the face of the victim bleeding and beaten.
A 19-year old’s body was found. Serena McKay was found Sunday night, near a residence Sagkeeng which is a town located 100 kilometers north-east of Winnipeg. Her disappearance was reported earlier in the day.
Students from McKay’s school alerted their high school’s principal, Claude Guimond, on Monday, in response to the online video. After seeing the face of the victim, Guimond said he believes that it is McKay as well as that he transferred the evidence to RCMP.
Sagkeeng Chief Derrick Henderson said the girl’s mother is very concerned by the presence of the video and Henderson is urging Facebook to remove it.
“I’ve requested Facebook and I’ve also asked the major crime unit to have that video removed, however long it requires,” Henderson said. “It’s quite difficult to remove it once it’s out there I think. There must be a way to do it.”
The social media company has told CBC News it is looking into the issue.
“This was a terrible tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and family members of Mrs. McKay. We’ve been unable to find footage on Facebook and we are in contact with law enforcement officials as they are investigating,” said a spokesperson for Facebook.
It was accessible up to four hours on Wednesday and was removed from the website following CBC complained about it to Facebook as well as the RCMP.
Manitoba RCMP are investigating whether the video may be linked to McKay’s suicide.
“To me, the footage is shocking. I can’t believe that anyone could stand and watch the video and not help,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre.
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 17 from Sagkeeng are being charged with murder of the second degree in the death of McKay and are currently in custody. Since they are minors, neither girl can be identified.
Three teenagers all were part of identical Sagkeeng Anicinabe High School, but McKay was a resident of the nearby Powerview-Pine Falls community.
“I’m sorry,’ victim’s voice is heard in graphic video
The full-length video that was made public on Facebook Wednesday it shows a woman’s head being hit with the force of a boot. It’s unclear how many others are in her vicinity but it appears there are at most two females.
The viewer can see the blood of the victim and her facial injuries , and hear the crackling sound of bones in the attack and hear voices yelling at her.
During the attack, the victim cries, “I’m so sorry.” There is no explanation regarding what she is sorry about or the reason she’s being targeted.
“If you let anyone follow me, I’ll kill you. I’ll kill yourself,” a female voice tells the victim.
While the latest video was removed from Facebook however, the content can be shared via Facebook Messenger, according to RCMP.
A worrying trend on the internet
Daniel Tobok, chief executive officer of the security company online, Cytelligence, said the video is the latest instance of a disturbing, growing trend of Facebook users posting videos of actual assaults and deaths of hundreds of people.
“It’s all up to us as citizens, members, subscribers you’ve met to report anything that we find unacceptable, it is our responsibility to be able to report it,” said Tobok.
Recently, a Thai man posted a video of himself shooting his 11-month-old daughter’s body on Facebook Last week, an untimely shooting in Cleveland was seen for two hours on the website.
Social media websites are currently dependent on users to share images, they need to create stronger filters to prevent the kind of content getting uploaded into the near future, Tobok said.
“I would like to encourage players to step up their game,” he said. “You are not going to be capable of stopping it however, you can reduce the impact.”
Uploading videos of attacks online isn’t illegal, according to RCMP Sergeant. Manaigre However, those who record attacks but don’t assist the victim may be accused of being an accomplice.
Manaigre stated that since the video is shared via private messages, authorities aren’t sure if Facebook can stop or control the dissemination of the content.
“We must continue to advance’
Henderson believes that the attack and the death of McKay could be related to social and economic issues in Sagkeeng.
“I’m not certain what the reasons are for what transpired however I do know that the majority of it could be linked to a variety of things such as addiction. I’m aware of the issue in my neighborhood,” he said.
The chief has said that the murder has caused grief to the entire community However, he hopes that it can spark change in Sagkeeng.
“Even me as a leader it’s hard to take and yet we have to keep moving forward and strive to make this more conducive to our employees.”
