Video of police punching suspect strains relations with RCMP: chief

The father of a Yukon man caughton video being punched by an RCMP officer earlier this week says he's glad the incident was captured on tape and says the unnamed officer's conduct during the incident "isn't right."

"Even if you do something like break your conditions, you shouldn't be roughed up like that," says Ed Skookum, the father of Josh Skookum, the man shown being arrested by a Whitehorse police officer in the video.

Inthe video, the officer punchesJosh Skookumin the head whilepinning himto the ground. The officer thenforces the manonto his stomach and handcuffs him.

"Luckily there are kids that know how tooperate thecellphoneand get a video going," says Ed Skookum, a former chief of the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation.

Josh Skookum appeared in court Thursdaywith two black eyes. Hefaces several charges related to breaches of conditions, resisting arrest and assaulting a peace officer.

He was released on bail.

Memories of Raymond Silverfox

The current chief of the First Nation says the incident has put a strain on relations between his community and police.

Eric Faircloughsaysit'sconjured memories of Raymond Silverfox, the Little Salmon Carmacks man who died in police custody in 2008 followinginsensitive and callous treatment.

"That's in the back of everybody's mind right now," Faircloughsays. "I think everybody believes that there was some excessive force being used and basically misconduct of the RCMP."

Yukon RCMPhave saidthey willlimitwhat they publicly say about the incident, to "avoid influencing the investigation or any future processes that may result."

Alberta's Serious Incident Response Team has been called in to lead the investigation. In the meantime, RCMP say the officer has been reassigned to administrative duties.

Fairclough says Yukon First Nations want to have a representative as part of the independent investigation into the use of force.

"I think what we all need to do is hear all of the story," he says.

Police have not said how long the investigation might take.