A Kelowna man is recovering from his injuries after being assaulted while riding his one-wheel next to a homeless encampment along a section of the Okanagan Rail Trail.While Marcel Irnie was quick to inform police of what had happened and provided evidence backing up his claims, little has been done to bring the perpetrators to account.In an interview with the Western Standard, Irnie explained that the incident took place as he and a buddy were one-wheeling down the trail around 4:30 p.m. on August 29. The first time they passed by the encampment, which sits along the stretch of path that runs parallel to Weddell Place between Richter St. and Ethel St. in the North End, nothing happened, but on the way back, Irnie decided to film the scene.It was then, he said, that a woman on a bicycle "started yelling" at him, and was "encouraging" her fellow camp-dwellers to launch an attack."She rammed me with her bicycle," Irnie explained, "then a gentleman on a bicycle rams me as well." He described the man as rather large, at least 6 feet tall and 220 pounds. At that point, he continued, another man over 6 feet tall came over and "start[ed] swinging."Irnie said he was struck multiple times before managing to get up, grab his one-wheel, and flee west towards the lake. The suspects pursued him, with the woman instructing two homeless people ahead to "get him, get him, get him."After plowing into one of them, he fell to the ground, and the suspects proceeded to beat him again.."I got punched, then I got a full-on soccer kick to the head," Irnie explained, crediting the helmet he was wearing for saving his life. "Then they're just punching and kicking me as I'm literally just protecting my head and thinking I might die if they stab me."He said the crew eventually backed off, but not before stealing his phone and sunglasses. His one-wheel, which had been tossed aside during the scuffle, was kept safe by another homeless man who returned it to him afterwards.Irnie went on to note that a city security guard, known as a Commissionaire, was on the scene, but did not intervene, opting instead to call police.Officers arrived on scene at 5:31 p.m., and Irnie got to work pointing out the suspects. Despite telling them he could identify those who attacked him, the police only arrested one man, but did not even take a victim statement to find out what exactly he may have done."Why aren't they taking this seriously?" Irnie recalled thinking at the time. "Nobody's giving me any empathy whatsoever."He explained that over the following hours, he pushed the police to take action, even showing them on another device that he'd tracked his stolen phone back to the encampment..They agreed to meet him back at the scene, but because his other device was WiFi only, he needed a hotspot to bring up the tracking app, which they refused to provide.It wasn't until days later that Irnie was finally given the opportunity to give a statement to police. Since then, he said he has been back to the encampment to try and deal with the issue himself."It feels like [police] don't want to get involved in it because we're dealing with the homeless drug users," he lamented. "They'll arrest me if I go attack a homeless person, but if a homeless person attacks you, they don't want anything to do with it."Irnie suggested this was because homeless people often "don't show up to court dates," and essentially exist outside the system."People need to take account of it," he warned, "or these same people are gonna attack more people in the homeless tent or people like me who are just citizens using the rail trail."This is not Irnie's first time dealing with police. During the pandemic, he made a name for himself in town as an anti-mandate activist, and recorded video of an argument he had with RCMP Const. Conrad Erbes for his YouTube channel. The officer sued him in 2022, but BC Small Claims Court dismissed the case.
A Kelowna man is recovering from his injuries after being assaulted while riding his one-wheel next to a homeless encampment along a section of the Okanagan Rail Trail.While Marcel Irnie was quick to inform police of what had happened and provided evidence backing up his claims, little has been done to bring the perpetrators to account.In an interview with the Western Standard, Irnie explained that the incident took place as he and a buddy were one-wheeling down the trail around 4:30 p.m. on August 29. The first time they passed by the encampment, which sits along the stretch of path that runs parallel to Weddell Place between Richter St. and Ethel St. in the North End, nothing happened, but on the way back, Irnie decided to film the scene.It was then, he said, that a woman on a bicycle "started yelling" at him, and was "encouraging" her fellow camp-dwellers to launch an attack."She rammed me with her bicycle," Irnie explained, "then a gentleman on a bicycle rams me as well." He described the man as rather large, at least 6 feet tall and 220 pounds. At that point, he continued, another man over 6 feet tall came over and "start[ed] swinging."Irnie said he was struck multiple times before managing to get up, grab his one-wheel, and flee west towards the lake. The suspects pursued him, with the woman instructing two homeless people ahead to "get him, get him, get him."After plowing into one of them, he fell to the ground, and the suspects proceeded to beat him again.."I got punched, then I got a full-on soccer kick to the head," Irnie explained, crediting the helmet he was wearing for saving his life. "Then they're just punching and kicking me as I'm literally just protecting my head and thinking I might die if they stab me."He said the crew eventually backed off, but not before stealing his phone and sunglasses. His one-wheel, which had been tossed aside during the scuffle, was kept safe by another homeless man who returned it to him afterwards.Irnie went on to note that a city security guard, known as a Commissionaire, was on the scene, but did not intervene, opting instead to call police.Officers arrived on scene at 5:31 p.m., and Irnie got to work pointing out the suspects. Despite telling them he could identify those who attacked him, the police only arrested one man, but did not even take a victim statement to find out what exactly he may have done."Why aren't they taking this seriously?" Irnie recalled thinking at the time. "Nobody's giving me any empathy whatsoever."He explained that over the following hours, he pushed the police to take action, even showing them on another device that he'd tracked his stolen phone back to the encampment..They agreed to meet him back at the scene, but because his other device was WiFi only, he needed a hotspot to bring up the tracking app, which they refused to provide.It wasn't until days later that Irnie was finally given the opportunity to give a statement to police. Since then, he said he has been back to the encampment to try and deal with the issue himself."It feels like [police] don't want to get involved in it because we're dealing with the homeless drug users," he lamented. "They'll arrest me if I go attack a homeless person, but if a homeless person attacks you, they don't want anything to do with it."Irnie suggested this was because homeless people often "don't show up to court dates," and essentially exist outside the system."People need to take account of it," he warned, "or these same people are gonna attack more people in the homeless tent or people like me who are just citizens using the rail trail."This is not Irnie's first time dealing with police. During the pandemic, he made a name for himself in town as an anti-mandate activist, and recorded video of an argument he had with RCMP Const. Conrad Erbes for his YouTube channel. The officer sued him in 2022, but BC Small Claims Court dismissed the case.
