Nunavut inmate involved in 2018 jail riot found guilty of rioting, mischief

The man who allegedly “fanned the flames” of the June 2018 riot at the Baffin Correctional Centre is guilty of mischief and rioting, a Nunavut judge ruled on Feb. 28.

Gary Arnaquq, 38, was charged with rioting, mischief to property valued at over $5,000 and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm following a riot at BCC that caused significant damage to the jail’s Charlie unit, a medium-security cell block.

Following a one-and-a-half day trial at the Nunavut Court of Justice, Justice Paul Bychok found Arnaquq guilty of the rioting and mischief charges, and not guilty of uttering threats.

The overnight riot ended on June 21, having lasted five-and-a-half hours, RCMP said at the time. Twenty-six inmates were involved in the riot. Afterwards, 40 inmates were flown to correctional centres in the south because the Iqaluit jail wasn’t able to house them due to damages caused during the riot.

Arnaquq was one of 11 inmates charged following the riot.

But there was one person missing from the courtroom during Arnaquq’s trial—Arnaquq himself.

Arnaquq’s lawyer, Mia Manocchio, told the court that he refused to come, saying he told her he “was sleepy.” This is despite Manocchio and Arnuquq being in conversation the night before the trial date, Manocchio told the court.

Crown prosecutor Martin Tooke called four witnesses to testify, all corrections officers who were working at BCC during the riot or who were called in to help that night.

The first witness, Michael Meade, testified that Arnaquq assembled inmates during the riot.

During Meade’s testimony, Tooke showed the court two videos from the night of the riot. The first came from a camera in the Charlie unit common area. The video shows Meade, dressed in a light blue shirt, walking through Charlie unit. Inmates can be seen gathering in the hallway outside the common area. At the end of the video, inmates enter the common area. One puts a piece of material over the security camera, blacking it out.

Meade testified that he heard a commotion in the hallway next to the common area. In the second video, Meade and a few other corrections officers can be seen standing in the narrow hallway while inmates crowd around them.

Meade testified that Arnaquq was calling for other people to come down to the hallway.

“He was saying, ‘There’s only a couple of them. They can’t take us,’” Meade said, adding that Arnaquq was referring to the officers.

Meade also testified that he yelled at the crowd to disperse, but no one listened.

Eventually, Meade left the unit.

“Can you tell us why you left the unit at that time?” Tooke asked.

The riot was starting to escalate, Meade said, and that is when Jamie Leblanc, the acting on-duty officer at that time, called the officers out of the unit.

Leblanc was another witness. He has worked at BCC for 18 years, and said he has known Arnaquq since he started working there.

Leblanc testified that the inmates were confrontational, and that he heard Arnaquq say, “Let’s get the staff, let’s get ‘em.”

At one point Arnaquq was waving inmates on, Leblanc said, demonstrating a waving motion over his head to the court.

Another corrections officer, Colin Kilabuk, testified that Arnaquq had come up and spoken to him at a door he was guarding that night. He told the court that Arnaquq said he could not wait to open the door so he could beat up the officers.

Kilabuk also testified that Arnaquq was ordering other inmates to tear down Charlie unit.

Tooke presented the court with photos of the damage to Charlie unit. They showed doors missing from frames, sinks removed from a bathroom, smashed windows, holes in dorm rooms, among other things.

Crown says riot “would not have happened” without Arnaquq

Tooke argued that Arnaquq was instrumental in carrying out the riot, using testimony from the corrections officers about Arnaquq ordering inmates to tear down Charlie unit and calling other inmates to help to prove his argument.

“That’s entirely consistent with Mr. Arnaquq having been one of the key instigators of the riot at its very inception,” Tooke told the court.

“It seems that as the riot progressed, Mr. Arnaquq continued to—if I can put it this way—fan the flames of the riot,” he added.

To convict someone of rioting requires there to have been an intent to riot, said Bychok. The judge went on to say that the nature of Arnaquq’s comments toward guards, his state of mind at the time, and his actions—such as preventing Meade from getting through the door—are what led him to find Arnaquq guilty of the rioting charge.

“He meant to do what he did. He knew what he was doing. And he did it,” Bychok said.

On the mischief charge, the Crown had to prove that Arnaquq’s actions caused damage valued over $5,000. Bychok noted the only evidence filed by Tooke were the photographs of the damage to Charlie unit.

“The Crown did not provide any documentary evidence, which in my view, would have been easy to do to prove the value of the property which was damaged that is exceeded $5,000,” Bychok said.

Documentary evidence would be things like receipts or anything to prove the damage amounted to over $5,000.

Bychok said although he did not have the “best possible evidence,” he could rationally conclude that the photographs did show over $5,000 worth of damage. Bychok said he has lived in Nunavut for 17 years and knows the high cost of repairs.

Therefore, Bychok found Arnaquq guilty of committing mischief to property valued at over $5,000.

Arnaquq was found not guilty of uttering death threats. Officers testified that he threatened to beat up the guards, but Bychok ruled that these testimonials did not equate to death threats.

Crown calls for a three-year sentence, defence asks for 12 months

Sentencing submissions happen after a trial. In this case, they happened immediately after.

In his sentencing submission, Tooke noted Arnaquq’s criminal record includes three convictions for assault causing bodily harm, four convictions for assault, two convictions for assaulting police, 11 convictions for uttering threats, four convictions for breaching probation order, seven convictions for breaching an undertaking, three convictions of mischief and one conviction for escaping lawful custody. The record also includes convictions for theft, break and enter and several weapons offences, Tooke said.

Arnaquq was also one of four inmates charged in a previous riot at BCC in 2017.

During that riot Arnaquq and other inmates crawled into the ceiling at BCC.

“It’s highly, highly aggravating, your honour, that he didn’t get the message the first time when he committed mischief by getting into the ceiling of BCC and doing damage up there,” Tooke said.

A conviction for mischief carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. Tooke asked the court to sentence Arnaquq to three years for that charge. He asked for the two years for the rioting conviction, the maximum sentence. Tooke asked that Arnaquq serve the sentence for both convictions at the same time, for a total of three years.

“Gary … not only started the riot, he incited violence. He fanned the flames of the riot while it was going on. It appears that he was the one person without which, the riot wouldn’t have happened,” Tooke said.

After Bychok found Arnaquq guilty of mischief of over $5,000 using only the photographs filed as evidence during the trial, Tooke presented Bychok with several invoices during his sentencing submission.

The first invoice, from Community and Government Services, was for emergency repairs to BCC for $451,559.85. Another, for fixing fire sprinkler heads, totaled $15,371.95, while flights for inmates to the south cost $199,500. Tooke also said the estimated cost of housing inmates in the south was $888,000 based on daily rate of $317.24 per inmate.

Tooke also asked Bychok to consider the sentences handed down to other inmates involved in the riot.

Adam Kigiuna was sentenced to 11 months for mischief and to rioting while masked, Aaron Akulukjuk was sentenced to 10 months and a firearms prohibition for rioting and mischief, Marvin Tunnillie was sentenced to 10 months for rioting, mischief and uttering threats, Archie Ishulutak was sentenced to five months for rioting and mischief, Suati Atsiaq was sentenced to six months for rioting while masked and mischief, Kootoo Papatsie was sentenced to six months for rioting and mischief, and Spencer Nakoolak was sentenced to six months for rioting while masked and mischief.

Tim Lucassie was also sentenced, but the Crown did not have information on it.

Tooke asked Bychok not to give Arnaquq enhanced credit for time already served.

During her sentencing submission, Manocchio briefly told the court about Arnaquq’s life. Born in Iqaluit and raised in Qikiqtarjuaq, he has a common law spouse and three children.

“Mr. Arnaquq calls himself the black sheep of his family because he always gets into trouble,” she said.

Manocchio said she had visited Arnaquq several times leading up to the trial and thought he “looked different.”

“He looked more calm. What he told me, there’s a new mental health nurse at BCC.… He’s getting counselling for panic attacks and is in therapy with her one-on-one,” she said.

Manocchio asked for a 12-month sentence, saying the court should consider the sentences of others involved in the riot.

Arnaquq’s sentencing is scheduled for April 9 at 9:30 a.m. at the Nunavut Court of Justice.