Police say multiple injuries reported following clashes at Edmonton Eritrean festival

Police in Edmonton say after authorities withdrew a permit for an Eritrean event due to safety concerns, an altercation broke out at another site and multiple people were injured.

Police say they attended a demonstration in the city’s west end on Saturday in relation to the Eritrean festival that was scheduled to take place in a field in that area.

“I would say today’s event in Edmonton was an unprecedented event,” EPS Insp. Brenda Dalziel said late Saturday. “This is very unusual to occur in our city.

“It wasn’t the entire festival, it was just a few people in conflict with each other. And just to be clear, it wasn’t a conflict with police, it was two groups in conflict with each other, and police were there to standby and try to maintain public order.”

Police say officers worked closely with organizers of both groups ahead of time to “support citizens in their right to peaceful assembly” and “ensure public safety for both the festival and demonstration attendees.”

A soccer game on a Saturday is a normal occurrence. What isn’t normal is have tactical watching over your game. Police are attempting to disperse a potential riot near the Roselyn school. #yeg #Eritrea pic.twitter.com/xHg5cUxRY1

— Rod (@rodmaldaner) August 19, 2023

But they say “rising tensions” became evident and in the interest of public safety, the police, in collaboration with the City of Edmonton, withdrew the festival’s permit.

Demonstrators and festival organizers dispersed, police say, but the event relocated and an altercation took place between both groups.

“We were anticipating that there could be a need for extra resources, and so Edmonton Police Service did bring extra resources out,” said Dalziel. “It was very important for us to maintain peace and order and that was absolutely the reason for EPS to have the resources we did have. We have a responsibility to the citizens of Edmonton to make sure that these festivals can go off and everyone can enjoy themselves, and that nobody is hurt.”

Inspector Brenda Dalziel with EPS says the conflict that broke out at a Eritrean event was 'unprecedented.'

She confirmed officers read the Riot Act twice today and says police gave a fair warning prior to reading it- giving those involved a chance to leave on their own. pic.twitter.com/ixuEc5tWov

— Laura Krause (@LauraKrauseNews) August 20, 2023

Edmonton police confirm the Riot Act was read twice.

“Under the criminal code, in order for the police to be lawfully placed, we do need to give a fair warning to those involved and the legal requirements are often referred to as riot act,” said Dalziel. “However we did have to provide that warning so that people and folks, bystanders, everyone involved has an opportunity to leave on their own, and to notify them that there may be some type of tactics used by police so there is fair warning to those individuals, and yes we had to do that today.”

(CityNews Image)

One person was assaulted with an object and transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police say ten additional people involved in the altercation were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

“They were not injured by police officers, not that I am aware of,” said Dalziel. “They were injured by other people at the festival.”

Police remained at the second location until festival attendees dispersed.

Police also say no officers were injured, and no arrests have been made, but they are continuing to investigate.

Earlier this month, clashes at an Eritrean festival in a Toronto park sent nine people to the hospital and triggered the deployment of the police force’s riot squad.

(CityNews Image)

Demonstrators opposed to the event claimed it supports the government of Eritrea, which human rights groups have called one of the most oppressive regimes in the world.

The following day, police said demonstrators opposed to Festival Eritrea gathered at the Sheraton Hotel where the festival was holding an event.

They said the protest turned aggressive when some people threw water bottles at officers.

Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia three decades ago. Since then, the small Horn of Africa nation has been led by President Isaias Afwerki, who has never held an election. Millions of residents have fled the country in order to avoid conditions such as forced military conscription.