Edmonton council candidate laughs at Calgary officer’s death on Twitter

Abdulhakim Dalel, a candidate for Ward 7 in October’s upcoming municipal elections, is in hot water. In a now-deleted tweet asking why the Prime Minister hadn't responded to the death of Calgary officer Andrew Harnett (who was murdered on New Year's Eve after having pulled over a car with mismatched plates), Dalel appeared to laugh at his death, replying: “Cuz he was a Corrupted [sic] Police Officer.”

The Western Standard reports that Dalel is a Black Lives Matter activist who supports defunding the Edmonton police force. In one recent tweet, he stated that "...if I am elected, I will support defunding the @edmontonpolice @YEGPA and ask the Federal Government to investigate 1110 complaints against the @edmontonpolice from the murder of the 17-year-old teen to the sexual assault of 15 years old Indigenous woman [sic]."

Last election, he also unsuccesfully ran for the NDP nomination in the federal riding of Edmonton-Griesbach, which ultimately went to Mark Cherrington.

Mike Nickel, current Ward 11 councillor in Edmonton, responded to Dalel's remarks on Facebook. "This is disgraceful, even more so as this person has announced they are running for Edmonton city council in 2021. While many of our "woke" leaders will fail to condemn language like this, I won't. We offer our steadfast sympathies to our neighbors in Calgary. We honor Sgt. Harnett."