Whitehorse runners pack courtroom in solidarity with jogger after alleged assault

Whitehorse residents packed a courtroom on Monday to show support for a woman who was allegedly assaulted while out running on a trail over the weekend. 

In a news release, RCMP say that on Saturday a woman who was jogging on the Millennium Trail was followed and attacked by a man. Police say a man is facing charges of sexual assault and assault causing bodily harm.

The allegations have not been tried in court and there is a publication ban on the accused’s identity, the woman’s identity and the court proceedings.

Dozens of people attended the courthouse on Monday to show solidarity with the woman and had discussions around women’s safety in public spaces.

Garnet Muething, a Whitehorse resident and runner, was at the courthouse on Monday.

By coming together and talking about this, we can try to think about this in terms of how can we ensure safety for everyone, she said.

“Specifically today, we’re talking about people who want to be out enjoying the outdoors and running. For women they should be able to do that, as you know, together in a group or alone and not have to worry about their safety.”

I grew up knowing that I had to check in with my girlfriends when we leave and we come home and we always had to grow up with this extra sense of ‘are we safe, who’s around us at all times? she said.

Yukon RCMP Staff Sgt. Eric Lane said he can’t speak to the investigation due to to the publication ban, but he said he understands the response from the community.

Everybody, everybody here is impacted by something like that when it happens, he said.

“We’re doing everything we can to ensure that the public is safe. Hopefully at some point here in the future we might be able to talk more about that.”

A four-kilometre solidarity run has been scheduled to go through downtown Whitehorse on Saturday.