Senate: Multi-agency failure aided US Capitol attack

The Senate report is the first – and could be the last – bipartisan review of how hundreds of Trump supporters were able to push violently past security lines and break into Capitol on January 6.

In this Wednesday, January 6, 2021 file photo, supporters of then-president Donald Trump scale the west wall of the the US Capitol in Washington. (Jose Luis Magana / AP)

A Senate investigation of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol found a broad intelligence breakdown across multiple agencies, along with widespread law enforcement and military failures that led to the violent attack.

There were clear warnings and tips that supporters of former president Donald Trump, including right-wing extremist groups, were planning to “storm the Capitol” with weapons and possibly infiltrate the tunnel system underneath the building. But that intelligence never made it up to top leadership.

The result was chaos.

A Senate report released Tuesday details how officers on the front lines suffered chemical burns, brain injuries and broken bones, among other injuries, after fighting the attackers, who quickly overwhelmed them and broke into the building.

Officers told the Senate investigators they were left with no leadership or direction when command systems broke down.

The Senate report is the first – and could be the last – bipartisan review of how hundreds of Trump supporters were able to push violently past security lines and break into the Capitol that day, interrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential election victory. The failures detailed in the report highlighted how, almost 20 years after the September 11 attacks, US intelligence agencies are still beset by a fundamental issue: a failure of imagination.

Details of the report below:

READ MORE: Violence, chaos in Capitol Hill as Trump-backed mob storms building

The report recommends immediate changes to give the Capitol Police chief more authority, to provide better planning and equipment for law enforcement and to streamline intelligence gathering among federal agencies.

But as a bipartisan effort, the report does not delve into the root causes of the attack, including Trump's role as he called for his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat that day.

It does not call the attack an insurrection, even though it was.

And it comes two weeks after Republicans blocked a bipartisan, independent commission that would investigate the insurrection more broadly.

“This report is important in the fact that it allows us to make some immediate improvements to the security situation here in the Capitol,” said Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the chair of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which conducted the probe along with the Senate Rules Committee. “But it does not answer some of the bigger questions that we need to face, quite frankly, as a country and as a democracy.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that the findings show an even greater need for a bipartisan commission to investigate the root causes of the attack, referring to Trump’s unfounded claims about the 2020 election.

“As the ‘big lie’ continues to spread, as faith in our elections continues to decline, it is crucial — crucial — that we establish a trusted, independent record of what transpired,” said Schumer.

READ MORE: Democrats say Capitol attackers acted on Trump's 'orders'

Bipartisan commission under threat

But Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who led the blockade against such a commission, said he’s confident the ongoing reviews by lawmakers and law enforcement will be sufficient.

The House in May passed legislation to create a commission that would be modeled after a panel that investigated the September 11 attacks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told colleagues in a letter on Tuesday that if the Senate fails to approve the commission, her chamber will launch its own investigations.

The top Republican on the rules panel, Missouri Senator Roy Blunt, has opposed the commission, arguing that investigation would take too long. He said the recommendations made in the Senate can be implemented faster, such as legislation that he and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the rules committee chair, intend to introduce soon that would give the chief of Capitol Police more authority to request assistance from the National Guard.

Bureaucracy trips up Guards

The Senate report recounts how the Guard was delayed for hours January 6 as officials in multiple agencies took bureaucratic steps to release the troops. It details hours of calls between officials in the Capitol and the Pentagon and as the then-chief of the Capitol Police, Steven Sund, begged for help.

It finds that the Pentagon spent hours “mission planning” and seeking multiple layers of approvals as Capitol Police were being overwhelmed and brutally beaten by the attackers.

It also says the Defense Department’s hesitant response was influenced by criticism of its heavy-handed response to protests in the summer of 2020 after the killing of George Floyd in police custody.

The senators are heavily critical of the Capitol Police Board, a three-member panel made up of the heads of security for the House and Senate and the Architect of the Capitol.

The board now is required to approve requests by the police chief, even in urgent situations.

The report recommends that its members “regularly review the policies and procedures” after senators found that the three board members on January 6 did not understand their own authority and could not detail the statutory requirements for requesting National Guard assistance.

Two of the three board members, the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, were pushed out in the days after the attack. Sund, the Capitol Police chief, resigned under pressure.

READ MORE: How a security lapse allowed pro-Trump protesters to invade US Capitol

Capitol police failure to communicate

The report recommends a consolidated intelligence unit within the Capitol Police after widespread failures from multiple agencies that did not predict the attack even though insurrectionists were planning it openly on the internet.

The police intelligence unit “knew about social media posts calling for violence at the Capitol on January 6, including a plot to breach the Capitol, the online sharing of maps of the Capitol Complex’s tunnel systems, and other specific threats of violence,“ the report says, but agents did not properly inform leaders of everything they had found.

On December 28, for example, the report notes that someone emailed a public Capitol Police account and warned about “countless tweets from Trump supporters saying they will be armed on January 6th” and “tweets from people organizing to ‘storm the Capitol.'"

There were also internal warnings of an uptick in posts on various websites that showed maps of the Capitol, including its underground tunnels. But those specifics were never disseminated widely.

In a response to the report, the Capitol Police acknowledged the need for improvements and said some are already being made.

“Law enforcement agencies across the country rely on intelligence, and the quality of that intelligence can mean the difference between life and death,” the statement said.

During the attack, the report says, Capitol Police were compromised by bad intelligence, poor planning, faulty equipment and a lack of leadership. The force’s incident command system “broke down during the attack,” leaving officers on the front lines without orders. There were no functional incident commanders, and some senior officers were fighting instead of giving orders.

Capitol Police "leadership never took control of the radio system to communicate orders to front-line officers,” the investigation found.

Front line officers left alone

“I was horrified that NO deputy chief or above was on the radio or helping us,” one officer told the committee in an anonymous statement. “For hours the screams on the radio were horrific(,) the sights were unimaginable and there was a complete loss of control. ... For hours NO Chief or above took command and control. Officers were begging and pleading for help for medical triage.”

The acting chief, Yogananda Pittman, who replaced Sund after his resignation, told the committees that the lack of communication resulted from “incident commanders being overwhelmed and engaging with rioters, rather than issuing orders over the radio.”

The committee’s interviews with police officers detail “absolutely brutal” abuse from Trump’s supporters as they ran over them and broke into the building. The officers described hearing racial slurs and seeing Nazi salutes. One officer trying to evacuate the Senate said he had stopped several men in full tactical gear, one of whom said, “You better get out of our way, boy, or we’ll go through you to get (the senators).’”

The insurrectionists told police officers they would kill them, then members of Congress.

At the same time, the senators acknowledge the officers’ bravery, noting that one officer told them, “The officers inside all behaved admirably and heroically and, even outnumbered, went on the offensive and took the Capitol back.”

Source: AP

Canada: Catholic Church Guilty Of Cultural Genocide -Poll

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  Indigenous communities demonstrate in Canada against the residential school system. | Photo: Twitter/ @ChalecosAmarill

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Published 8 June 2021

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The poll comes amid widespread outrage over the finding of the remains of 215 children at the Kamploos residential school in British Columbia. The 120 years old system has been declared a cultural genocide by the Canadian authorities. 

Two out of three Canadians think the Catholic Church is responsible for the abuse residential schools system, according to the latest poll by Leger.

RELATED:

UN Special Rapporteurs Urge Probe on Canada Residential Schools

"66 percent of Canadians think the Church should bear the responsibility for the tragedies committed at residential schools, while 34 percent think the Government of Canada should be held responsible," the poll revealed.

The poll comes amid widespread outrage over the finding of the remains of 215 children at the Kamploos residential school in British Columbia. The 120 years old system has been declared a cultural genocide by the Canadian authorities. According to the poll 80 percent o Canadians the Kamploops event is the "tip of the iceberg" and more research has to be conducted in other areas of the country. 

Following the findings, the Canadian authorities have renewed calls for a papal apology and a group of United Nations human rights experts called for a full investigation into the events and the prosecution of any responsible who might still be alive.

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Canada Residential School system Cultural genocide

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Brazilians bang pots in protest as another 2,500 die of COVID-19
By Metro US


COVID-19 pandemic in Rio de Janeiro statekTwitter

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Pot-banging protests erupted across several cities in Brazil on Wednesday evening as President Jair Bolsonaro addressed the nation, just days after protestors took to the streets across the country over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed almost half a million people here.

The last few days have been rocky for the government of the right-wing leader, whose popularity had already been flagging amid persistently high daily COVID-19 deaths and cases.

On Wednesday alone, almost 100,000 Brazilians came down with the coronavirus and 2,507 died, according to government data. Earlier in the day, the nation’s Supreme Court authorized a criminal investigation into Bolsonaro’s environment minister for allegedly interfering with a police probe into illegal logging.

In the televised speech, Bolsonaro briefly summarized some of his government’s recent accomplishments and pledged strong economic growth going forward, but presented no new information.

On Saturday, thousands participated in protests in at least 16 cities across the country, which were organized by leftist political parties, unions and student associations.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, thousands of mask-wearing people blocked one the largest city’s avenues, while a large balloon depicted Bolsonaro as a vampire.

Some protests, like the one in Rio de Janeiro, included images of former leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has emerged as Bolsonaro’s main challenger in the nation’s 2022 election, wearing the presidential sash.

In the brief Wednesday evening speech, Bolsonaro, who has ridiculed masks and vaccines in the past, said all Brazilians who wanted a vaccine would be able to get one by the end of the year.

Also in the evening, the nation’s Health Ministry revised down the number of COVID-19 vaccines it will receive in June by about 4 million doses.

(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Gram Slattery; Editing by Michael Perry)

London attack comes amid federal government inaction on Islamophobia: expert

OTTAWA — The federal government hasn't gone far enough in addressing Islamophobia in Canada despite the rise of anti-Muslim hate in recent years, a Wilfrid Laurier University professor said.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Jasmin Zine said the London, Ont., attack that left four members of a Muslim family dead is another episode in a series of attacks that targeted Muslim Canadians across the country in the last few years amid lack of concerted government action to tackle the rise in Islamophobia.

Zine said she is working with a group of researchers on a study that will come out in the fall to document how a network of associations, groups, activists and donors has been promoting anti-Muslim hate in what she calls an "Islamophobia industry."

"We're inspired to act, to do this kind of work because of tragedies like the Quebec massacre, this horrible terror attack in London, the stabbing of a Muslim caretaker at a (Toronto) mosque (last year) and all of the other incidents and issues of Islamophobia that happen on a daily basis," she said.

More than four years before the London, Ont., attack, a gunman stormed a Quebec City mosque on Jan. 29, 2017, shooting dead six men and seriously injuring 19 people.

Liberal MP Iqra Khalid tabled a motion in Parliament following the attack calling on the federal government to address Islamophobia and study it along with religious discrimination and systemic racism.

The motion was adopted in March 2017, although 91 Conservative and Bloc Québécois members voted against it, including Erin O'Toole, who is now the Tory leader. A national study and hearings by the House of Commons heritage committee emerged from that motion.

"The report that came out of that, unfortunately, sidelined Islamophobia," Zine said, noting that only two of the 30 recommendations in the report referred explicitly to Islamophobia.

"I felt that was a lost opportunity to provide some important calls to actions, some important strategies that could specifically address Islamophobia."

Zine said the focus on Islamophobia was also sidelined in Canada's anti-racism strategy.

"It needs to be far more salient."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement that the attack is yet another example of the existence of Islamophobia in Canada.

"This horrific situation shows how important it is to act against Islamophobia and to do so quickly," he said.

"The Trudeau government promised to tackle online hate and we are still waiting. It is crucial that we immediately implement measures to tackle online hate including regulations to make social media platforms remove hateful and violent content from their platforms."

O'Toole's office didn't immediately respond to a comment request.

Green party Leader Annamie Paul called on the Liberal government to create a national anti-Islamophobia strategy.

Paul told a news conference that a comprehensive national strategy should include law enforcement, education and identifying those who are promoting hateful ideologies.

"A national strategy on Islamophobia … is something that the community has been asking for and is overdue," Paul said

She said the government has a duty to identify, expose and root out movements that promote discrimination and hate, and to ensure that those who promote such ideologies know that there will be no safe place or dark corner where their beliefs will be allowed to flourish.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a news conference that his government has made investments to ensure that its work is focused on recognizing the systemic discrimination that exists and on highlighting and naming Islamophobia.

He said there is more work to do and his government will partner with the Muslim community across the country to find out how to move forward.

Trudeau said the government will continue to fund initiatives to protect schools and places of worship of communities at risk. He added the Liberals will also continue to fight hate online and off-line, which will include more action to dismantle hate groups.

"There is always more to do … whether it’s protecting mosques and churches, synagogues with extra investments in security which is heartbreaking to have to do but is necessary, whether it's fighting online hatred, banning right wing extremist terrorist groups like the Proud Boys."

Zine said the deep roots of Islamophobia in Canada require more direct action on dealing with anti-Muslim racism in the country.

"There are networks of groups that purvey Islamophobia and Islamophobic rhetoric propaganda and discourses and a lot of those kinds of sentiments underwrite (Islamophobic) actions."

She said there are policies in place in Canada that create Islamophobic public sentiments including Quebec's ban on religious symbols, also known as Bill 21. It prohibits public-sector workers who are deemed to be in positions of authority, like public prosecutors and judges, from wearing religious symbols such as hijabs, kippas or turbans while at work.

Muslims are characterized as a particular kind of threat — including a demographic one — in the white supremacist and white nationalist circles, Zine said, and that thinking is in Canada too.

"The ideas that underwrite Islamophobia are tied to different kinds of ethno-nationalism, not just in Canada but abroad."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2021.

——

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press

Relativity Space's reusable Terran R rocket can be 3D-printed in 60 days

By Nick Lavars
June 08, 2021

A render of Relativity Space's Terran R rocket
Relativity Space

3D printing has come to play a significant role in modern rocket construction, with key players like Rocket Lab, NASA and SpaceX all leaning on the technology in producing their spacecraft. Startup Relativity Space is now coming to the party with its freshly unveiled Terran R rocket, which it describes as an entirely 3D-printed launch vehicle that can be created from raw materials in 60 days, and which is fully resuable.


In revealing its plans for the Terran R rocket, Relativity Space describes it as a two-stage launch vehicle that stands 216 ft (66 m) tall with a 16-ft (4.9-m) diameter. The California-based company is designing the rocket to launch satellites and for multi-planetary travel, equipping it with an ability to lift 20,000 kg (44,000 lb) into low-Earth orbit, close to the payload capacity of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket at 22,800 kg (50,265 lb).


The first stage of the Terran R rocket will be powered by seven of Relativity Space's Aeon R 3D-printed rocket engines that each generate 302,000 lb of thrust
Relativity Space

The rocket will be powered by seven of the company's Aeon R 3D-printed rocket engines that each generate 302,000 lb of thrust, while the upper stage will carry just one of its 3D-printed Aeon Vac engines. Relativity Space says the rocket will be fully reusable, including these engines, the first and second stages and the 5-m (16.4-ft) fairing used to protect its payloads. How it will retrieve all of this following launch is at this stage unclear, though such a feat won't be easy.

It also describes the rocket as the world's first to be entirely 3D printed. It will be manufactured using a mix of artificial intelligence and autonomous robots to print the structures and engines, a process the company says results in far fewer parts and an ability to turn raw materials into a standing rocket within 60 days. It also says this approach allows for unique aerodynamic features and geometries that wouldn't be possible with traditional production methods.


Relativity Space says its Terran R rocket can be 3D printed from raw materials in 60 days

Relativity Space

"Relativity was founded with the mission to 3D print entire rockets and build humanity’s industrial base on Mars," says Tim Ellis, CEO and co-founder of Relativity Space. "We were inspired to make this vision a reality, and believe there needs to be dozens to hundreds of companies working to build humanity’s multi-planetary future on Mars. Scalable, autonomous 3D printing is inevitably required to thrive on Mars, and Terran R is the second product step in a long-term journey Relativity is planning ahead.”


Relativity Space doesn't plan to launch the Terran R until 2024 from Cape Canaveral, but says it has already signed its first customer contract for the vehicle. The Terran R is actually the second rocket in the Relativity Space stable, following in the footsteps of its first and far smaller Terran 1, which will also be 3D printed and is set to launch for the first time this year. While it is 20 times smaller than the Terran R, the company says it has already secured nine contracts from private and public sector customers to use the Terran 1 to launch payloads into space.

"Together with our first rocket Terran 1, our second product, Terran R, will continue to take advantage of Relativity's disruptive approach to 3D printing – reduced part count, improved speed of innovation, flexibility, and reliability – to bring to market the next generation of launch vehicles," says Ellis.

The company also revealed it had closed a US$650 million Series E equity funding round that will enable scaling of the Terran R program and long-term infrastructure development.

You can check out the promo video for the Terran R below.

This Is Terran R

Source: Relativity Space

Relativity Space unveils fully reusable,3D-printed Terran R rocket

By Mike Wall 

SPACE.COM

The 216-foot-tall rocket is expected to start flying in 2024.

 Video A fully reusable, 3D-printed rocket will be launching satellites to orbit three years from now, if all goes according to plan.




Today (June 8), Relativity Space revealed details of Terran R, a new two-stage rocket that's key to the Southern California startup's bold off-Earth goals, which include helping humanity get a foothold on Mars.

"Terran R is at the cutting edge of rocket innovation and design," Zach Dunn, senior vice president of engineering and manufacturing at Relativity Space, said in a statement. "Fully reusable and entirely 3D printed, Terran R will be well suited to serve customers' evolving needs in the large satellite constellation industry, while also representing a significant leap towards achieving our mission of building humanity's industrial base off of Earth."

Related: Relativity Space will 3D-print rockets at new autonomous factory

Artist's illustration of Relativity Space's Terran R rocket, a fully reusable 3D-printed vehicle that's expected to start flying in 2024. (Image credit: Relativity Space)

Terran R will be a big step up in power and performance from the two-stage Terran 1, an expendable rocket that Relativity Space expects to start flying later this year. Nine different customers have already signed contracts to put payloads on Terran 1, company representatives said.


Terran 1 is 115 feet (35 meters) tall by 7.5 feet (2.3 m) wide and can deliver a maximum of 2,756 lbs. (1,250 kilograms) to low Earth orbit (LEO), according to its specifications page. The vehicle's first stage is powered by nine of Relativity Space's Aeon 1 engines, while the upper stage features one vacuum-optimized Aeon.

The engines, which burn liquid oxygen and methane, are 3D printed, just like the rest of the rocket. This manufacturing strategy allows Relativity Space to build rockets with 100 times fewer parts than those of its competitors and churn out a completed vehicle in less than 60 days, company representatives said.


Artist's illustration of Relativity Space's Terran 1 (left) and Terran R rockets, with a person for scale. (Image credit: Relativity Space)

Terran R is expected to launch for the first time in 2024. Like Terran 1, it will depart from a pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Florida's Atlantic Coast.


Terran R will be 216 feet (66 m) tall by 16 feet (4.9 m) wide, with the ability to loft more than 44,100 lbs. (20,000 kg) to LEO, Relativity Space representatives said. The rocket's first stage will be powered by seven Aeon R engines, a brawny, high-pressure cousin of the Aeon 1. Terran R's upper stage will feature one vacuum Aeon, as on Terran 1.

Terran R's payload capacity is close to that of SpaceX's workhorse Falcon 9, a pioneer in rocket reuse. Falcon 9 first stages regularly and repeatedly come back to Earth after sending satellites on their way to orbit; last month, for example, a Falcon 9 booster known as B1051 launched and landed for a record 10th time.

Relativity Space - 3D-Printed Rockets 'Built and Flown in Days'

But Relativity Space, which was founded in 2015, aims to take reuse a step further with Terran R. The entire rocket — the first stage, the second stage and the payload fairing, which protects satellites during launch — will be reusable, company representatives said.

"There’s an organic relationship between 3D printing and reusability, and it gives us an unparalleled advantage to design the best fully reusable rocket possible," Relativity Space co-founder and CEO Tim Ellis said in the same statement.

Terran R has been in Relativity Space's plans for a while, but the company decided over the past year or so to accelerate its development. That work will be aided by an infusion of investor cash — $650 million in newly secured equity funding, the company announced today.

Such a haul is not exactly unprecedented for Relativity Space. The company raked in $500 million in its previous investment round, which was announced in November 2020.

Relativity Space's new Terran-R will be a completely reusable rocket standing 216 feet tall with a 16-foot diameter and a 5-meter payload fairing. (Image credit: Relativity Space)

"Relativity was founded with the mission to 3D-print entire rockets and build humanity’s industrial base on Mars," Ellis said.

"We were inspired to make this vision a reality, and believe there needs to be dozens to hundreds of companies working to build humanity’s multiplanetary future on Mars," he added. "Scalable, autonomous 3D printing is inevitably required to thrive on Mars, and Terran R is the second product step in a long-term journey Relativity is planning ahead."

Though today marked Terran R's official unveiling, the rocket's existence was not a secret: In February, CNBC's Michael Sheetz wrote an in-depth story about the vehicle and its envisioned role.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

Russia, US reach agreement on JBS, Colonial Pipeline cyberattacks — Lavrov

The Russian Foreign Minister hopes that this will help to develop bilateral dialogue

© EPA-EFE/JIM LO SCALZO


MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Russia and the United States have found consensus on cyberattacks on US companies JBS and Colonial Pipeline, and it can contribute to developing dialogue in this area, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"In the end, a consensus was found in both cases, although earlier our Western partners had objections. I have reasons to hope that this will help to develop bilateral dialogue. But the most important thing is to conduct the dialogue professionally, and not for show," he noted.

The minister stressed that Russia does not abandon its attempts to set up a dialogue in the cybersphere with its US partners. "We do not stop trying. In September last year, President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin issued a statement on how we would see US-Russian cooperation in developing a comprehensive program of measures to restore cooperation in this area," Lavrov added.

Lavrov said he hopes that Russia’s proposal will be substantively discussed at the summit of the presidents of Russia and the United States on June 16 in Geneva.

In early May, attackers from the DarkSide group hacked into the systems of American pipeline company Colonial Pipeline. According to US intelligence services, DarkSide may be based on the territory of Russia or Eastern Europe but is not associated with any government. The attack on computer networks of American meat processing company JBS was carried out on May 31. According to the White House press service, the company believes that a criminal organization, allegedly located in Russia, is behind the attack.

'You didn't get the best of me': Residential school survivor gets honorary doctorate

© Provided by The Canadian Press


CALGARY — Clarence Wolfleg remembers the day his mother took him to school.

It was 1956 and for the next 5 1/2 years he attended the Old Sun Residential School outside Gleichen in southern Alberta.

"My first memory was when my mother suited me up in my finest — my GWG denim jacket, my new pants and my little fedora hat. I said, 'Where am I going?' She said, 'We're going to go to that place.'"

Wolfleg was 6 1/2 years old. He was able to earn high enough marks to attend a public school when he was 12.

He doesn't say the name of the residential school. It's simply "that place."

Wolfleg, 72, shared some of his not-so-fond memories on Tuesday before Mount Royal University in Calgary bestowed him with an honorary doctor of laws degree for his efforts as an elder and spiritual adviser.

"It was horrible in a sense that I could not connect with my language to soothe my pain. I couldn't cry because they told me you can't cry, so my emotions was hidden inside of me," he said.

Wolfleg's mother gave some older boys "a few dollars" to protect him from some of the priests and other students. Leaving the institution is one of his better memories.

"The most happiest moment I had was when I left there and ... I wasn't going back. I looked back and said, 'Well, you didn't get the best of me. I'm still alive. My spirit is still with me."'

Wolfleg said when he first entered the school, he committed to following his father's example of joining the military and becoming a spiritual leader to his people.

He accomplished both.

Word that remains believed to be of Indigenous children were found at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School has reawakened other memories for Wolfleg, known as Miiksika'am in Blackfoot.

"I had to think about three girls that were found not even 300 yards from (my) school," said Wolfleg.

"They ran away from school and the house they went to was just a quarter mile down the road. A heavy snowstorm hit and they were found huddled on a hilltop south of the school.

"A little girl in the middle, she survived, but the other two passed away."

University president Tim Rahilly said Wolfleg has become an icon at the institution and helped many Indigenous and non-Indigenous people with his wisdom. He said the degree is the highest honour the school gives out and the decision was made long before the news out of Kamloops.

"We have been working for a long time on trying to recognize Indigenous ways of knowing and to recognize longer service of Indigenous folks in our community," he said.

"I think the emotional weight of what's happened recently is something that is on all of our minds."

The graduation ceremony was not unlike a drive-in movie. Graduates sat in their cars watching the stage.

Chancellor Dawn Farrell paid tribute to residential schoolchildren as she addressed the graduates.

"Our hearts break for them, for their family, for their communities, for all of our residential school survivors and all of our Indigenous and First Nations people."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2021.

London hate attack the latest blow for Muslims in Edmonton: ‘Our community is grieving’

The attack that killed four members of an Ontario family has forced Muslims in Edmonton to once again sit the with the reality of hateful behaviour close to home.  

© Global News Noor Al-Henedy at Al Rashid Mosque on June 8, 2021

On Sunday night, a pickup truck — which police said was driven by a 20-year-old London man — mounted a curb and struck a family of five as they were out for an evening walk in London, Ont., and then drove away.

A 46-year-old man, his 74-year-old mother, 44-year-old wife and 15-year-old daughter were killed. His nine-year-old son was seriously injured, but is expected to survive.

Video  "New details about family and suspect in London, Ont.

People gathered at Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton Tuesday afternoon for prayer, many members still in shock about the incident that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned as a "terrorist attack."

"It weighs very heavily," said Noor Al-Henedy with Al Rashid Mosque.

"This is very devastating. Our community is grieving."

Read more: ‘This is a terrorist attack’: Trudeau condemns tragedy in London, Ont. that left 4 dead

Community members in Edmonton say they have talked to their kids about staying vigilant and alert when they take transit or are in a public space.

"'Please be careful. Don't put on your headphones. That is something we have had to do in the past few months specifically, because of the increase in hate crimes in Muslim women," Al-Henedy 

A series of racially motivated assaults against mostly Black, Muslim women in Calgary and Edmonton in the past six months or so has left many in the community feeling anxious and unsafe. It's gotten so bad, the mosque has begun offering Muslim women self-defence lessons.

Read more: Why are Alberta’s Black, Muslim women being attacked?

Haiqa Cheema said she will head to the second floor of any mosque she visits, in case she needs time to react to an attack on the place of worship.

"It's very disheartening to sit in a place of worship and focus on your own safety... not why you're actually there," Cheema said.

She often thinks about what being a visible Muslim in Edmonton means for her safety.

"I make a note of my surroundings. I don't go out late at night. I make sure I'm with a friend when I'm out. I always have my GPS location on no matter where I am."

Cheema said when she saw a photo of the four victims in London, Ont. she saw her own family reflected in the image.

"We don't know when we are going to be attacked. That's something a lot of people don't realize... and something we need to come to terms with," she said.

"The grief [of these attacks] stays for a very long time."

When asked if she felt safe in Edmonton as a Muslim woman, Cheema didn't have a clear answer.

Read more: ‘A racist city that pretends it isn’t’: London attack didn’t happen in vacuum, residents say

Edmonton's numerous violent attacks on Muslim women in the past few months including an assault in a parking lot at the Southgate Centre shopping mall, one at the nearby Southgate LRT platform, at a University of Alberta transit centre and on near Whyte Avenue.

"It's not just attacks in violent ways. It's your every day life. "When I walk into an interview I think about 'I hope they are not racist.'

"This is a lived reality for a lot of people," Cheema said.

Read more: Edmonton police hate-crime unit investigating 2 separate incidents

Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson said Tuesday he hears the "concern, sadness and fear" within many racialized communities who have been "rocked" by the Ontario killings.

Premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday that all too often, the community faces "casual prejudice."

Read more: Woman charged following ‘hate-motivated’ attack at Southgate LRT Station

Al-Henedy said community members in Edmonton are on guard as they watch hate-motivated actions shift from verbal attacks to physical ones.

"It's becoming assault. It's becoming more vicious... more cold-blooded," she explained.

"I have space in this province, in this country. I'm not going to let that go or become invisible," Cheema said.

"If you see racism, call it out. Don't just rely on politicians to give their thoughts and prayers. This is a collective effort that all of us need to buckle up and work on."

Al Rashid Mosque will host a prayer service on Friday in memory of the family members killed in London, Ont. The mosque asks Albertans to join them in a moment of reflection at 2 p.m. Friday.

'Act of evil:' Thousands mourn victims of anti-Muslim attack in London, Ont.

LONDON, Ont. — Thousands of mourners, many wearing purple hijabs, crowded outside a mosque along with several dignitaries Tuesday for an outdoor vigil in honour of four members of a Muslim family killed in what police have called a targeted hate crime.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Pandemic restrictions were especially eased to allow the commemoration in hot, humid weather just days after the attack in the southwestern Ontario city that wiped out three generations of the family, including 15-year-old Yumna Salman.

As volunteers handed out bottled water to help deal with the heat, several of Yumna's close friends stood amid the crowd, which stretched more than a city block. They carried signs that read simply: “She was our friend.”

Hateem Amin, 14, who became friendly with the Grade 9 student six years ago, said she was grateful so many people had come to show their support for the victims. Purple had been Yumna's favourite colour.

"She’s loved by so many people," Amin said. "Personally, I love her with my whole heart and I’m so happy to see that so many people care about her story. This was not a normal death … it was not time for her to go.”

Relatives identified the other victims as Yumna's parents, Salman Afzaal, 46 and Madiha Salman, 44, and her 74-year-old grandmother who was not immediately named. The couple's nine-year-old boy, Fayez, remained in hospital with serious injuries.

Speakers on the steps of the London Muslim Mosque spoke of resiliency, of not cowing to fear or hate. They called for a fight against Islamophobia.

"We're not going to let hate intimidate us," said Bilal Rahhal, chairman of the mosque. "This is our city and we're not going anywhere."

Others spoke of the outpouring of sympathy unleashed by the senseless tragedy. They promised to take care of Fayez, now an orphan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed sympathy and solidarity with the Muslim community as he denounced the "act of evil." There were no words to ease the grief of seeing three generations "murdered in their neighbourhood," he said.

Trudeau acknowledged Islamophobia has hurt the Muslim-Canadian community "too many times," citing attacks such as one on the mosque in Quebec City. We must choose a better way, he said.

"When someone hurts any of us, when someone targets any parent or child or grandparent, we must all stand together and say no," he said.

The crowd hushed for a moment of silence at 8.40 p.m., the time of Sunday's attack.

Police said the family, out for their early evening stroll, was mown down when a man driving a black Dodge Ram smashed into them on a sidewalk as they waited to cross an intersection in the northwest end of London. The driver, investigators said, targeted the victims because of their Muslim faith.

London's mayor called it an act of "mass murder."

Two online fundraisers for the surviving boy had taken in about $1.3 million as of Tuesday evening.

One fundraising web page said the father was a physiotherapist and cricket enthusiast, while his "brilliant'' wife was working on her PhD in civil engineering at Western University. Yumna's grandmother was a "pillar'' of the family, the page said.

Police arrested Nathaniel (Nate) Veltman, 20, of London, on Sunday at a mall about seven kilometres from the carnage shortly after the driver sped off from the crime scene. He is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder. He was wearing what appeared to be body armour, police said.

Video: Muslim community grieves, calls for action after London, Ont., attack (cbc.ca)

Veltman was a part-time worker at Gray Ridge Eggs Inc. in Strathroy, Ont., company CEO William Gray said in a statement expressing shock and sorrow at the "hateful attack."

Catia Dias, a Grade 5 and 6 teacher, said she and her family went to the vigil to support a Muslim community grappling with the tragedy.

"Coming to Canada, it was because it's a safe country to raise a family," Dias said. "To have this in our town, in our city, it's very shocking."

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who was initially booed by some in the crowd, gave an impassioned speech in which he spoke of the horrors that had left a little boy without a family. Ontario, he said, must be safe and inclusive for everyone.

"We're all shaken," Ford said choking back tears. "It was mass murder. It was a hate crime. It was an act of terrorism."

The leaders of the federal opposition Conservatives, New Democrats and Greens expressed similar sentiments.

Omar Khamissa, with the National Council for Canadian Muslims, said the gathering allowed the community to mourn together. "Our souls are numb," he said.

Khamissa stressed the deep Muslim roots in the city of 404,000 people. The mosque, he said, was the second oldest in Canada.

"This is their home," he said. "For the first time, those who wear the scarf, who have a beard, feel like it's not."

Sana Yasir, a family friend, released a statement earlier in the day on their behalf:

"We need to understand that the destruction of a family in the brutal and horrific manner like this is something we must all stand against," the statement said.

Mike Phillips, principal of Oakridge Secondary School, where Yumna was an honour roll student, said the school community was in mourning.

"One teacher described her as being creative and confident, and having a bright and sparkling personality arriving each day to class with a smile," Phillips said. "She’ll be deeply missed."

Mosque Imam Aarij Anwer said the family was part of the "fabric of the congregation."

"We will honour their legacy, we will cherish them," he said. The mosque, he said, was providing access to grief counselling.

"Don’t let this terrorize you," he said. "This is a deep scar, it will take time to heal."

Dozens of people also visited the attack scene to pay tribute. They cried, hugged and placed flowers around a light pole and nearby tree, close to where the speeding pickup truck hopped the curb.

Rauf Ahmad and three of his friends said they had relatives killed in Pakistan for their Muslim faith.

"I didn’t think there was racism in Canada and I felt very safe when I came here two years ago, but I do not feel safe now," Ahmad said.

Politicians abroad denounced the attack. Pakistan's prime minister, Imran Khan, said it revealed the "growing Islamophobia in Western countries."

The group Independent Jewish Voices Stands expressed solidarity with Canadian Muslims, calling the attack "beyond horrific."

Flags on provincial buildings will be flown at half mast until the victims' funerals.

_ With files from Colin Perkel, Denise Paglinawan and Liam Casey

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2021.

Shawn Jeffords and Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press

Canada's Trudeau vows to fight far-right groups after Muslim family slain

By Steve Scherer and Carlos Osorio

© Reuters/CARLOS OSORIO A hate-motivated attack that killed four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario

OTTAWA/LONDON, Ontario (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday promised to redouble efforts to fight far-right groups two days after a hate-motivated attack that killed four members of a Muslim family in the city of London, Ontario.

"This was a terrorist attack, motivated by hatred, in the heart of one of our communities," Trudeau said in the House of Commons after observing a moment of silence.

The family, killed on Sunday when a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran them over, were targeted because of their religion, Canadian police said. The victims spanned three generations of a family and ranged in age from 15 to 74. A 9-year-old boy who survived remains hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

London, a city of about 400,000 people located halfway between Detroit and Toronto, has a large Muslim community and at least three mosques.

Rows of freshly cut flowers were placed on the grass at the entrance of the London Muslim Mosque, a place of worship at the heart of that community which the victims had attended.

"The London Muslim Mosque, it's the second-oldest mosque in Canada. ... This London (Muslim) community here has helped build this city," said Omar Khamissa, community engagement officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims nonprofit group.

"This is their home. And for the first time those that wear the scarf, who have beard, feel it's not," Khamissa said.

During the morning, a steady stream of adults and children left bouquets of flowers, stuffed animals and small signs expressing outrage at the street corner where the family was killed while taking a summer evening stroll.

"We'll continue to fight hate online and offline ... (including) taking more action to dismantle far-right hate groups, like we did with the Proud Boys by adding them to Canada's terror listing," said Trudeau, due to attend a vigil outside the mosque later on Tuesday.

Police arrested a man named Nathaniel Veltman, 20, in a parking lot about three-tenths of a mile (500 meters) from the mosque. He was wearing a body-armor type of vest. Veltman, who is white, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Authorities are reviewing possible terrorism charges.

'DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES'

The mosque bolstered security measures after a gunman killed 51 people in 2019 at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, according to Aarij Anwer, its imam and Islamic education coordinator.

"We've been ramping up our security since that time, and now even more," Anwer said in a telephone interview. "Islamophobia is bubbling under the surface and it rears its ugly head from time to time with devastating consequences."

The attack was the worst against Canadian Muslims since a man gunned down six members of a Quebec City mosque in 2017. London Mayor Ed Holder called it the worst mass murder in his city's history.

"Muslims wonder, how many more lives will it take, how many families will be mowed - mowed - down in the streets, how many more families will be killed before we do something?" opposition New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh, the first person from an ethnic minority to lead a major Canadian political party, said in the House of Commons after Trudeau spoke.

In February, Canada designated the far-right Proud Boys group a terrorist entity, saying it posed an active security threat after the January U.S. Capitol attack in Washington. Although the group has never mounted an attack in Canada, officials said domestic intelligence forces have become increasingly worried about it.

An anti-Islam rally was held in London in 2017 that was organized by a group called the Patriots of Canada Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), with counter protesters greatly outnumbering the anti-Muslim demonstrators, according to media reports at the time.

Veltman appears to have had little social media footprint. A spokesperson at the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, an organization that tracks hate groups, said that is unusual for a 20-year-old man.

"Someone poured poison into his ear," said the spokesperson, who asked not to be named. "We hope that further information will be shared to help determine and identify his online and media consumption."

(Reporting by Steve Scherer, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Carlos Osorio in London, additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Ottawa and Moira Warburton in Vancouver; Editing by Amran Abocar and Will Dunham)