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Kyle Snyder (soldier)
Encyclopedia
Private First Class
Private First Class is a military rank held by junior enlisted persons.- Singapore :The rank of Private First Class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of Private and Lance-Corporal . It is usually held by conscript soldiers midway through their national service term...
and combat engineer with the 94th Engineers based at Fort Leonard Wood
Fort Leonard Wood (military base)
Fort Leonard Wood is a United States Army installation located in the Missouri Ozarks. The main gate is located on the southern boundary of St. Robert. The post was created in December 1940 and named in honor of General Leonard Wood, former Chief of Staff, in January 1941...
, who deserted his Army unit while on mid-tour leave from Iraq and fled to Canada. His application for refugee status in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was denied.
Childhood
Snyder spent most of his teenage years in foster care in Colorado after his parents divorced. His family is originally from Iowa. He has grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins still living there.Enlistment
Snyder enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2004 one year after the war in Iraq had started. Prior to his deployment to Iraq, he requested a discharge through his chain of command "for medical reasons of manic depression." While on mid-tour leave from Iraq in 2005, Snyder deserted the Army.On October 31, 2006 PFC Snyder held a press conference prior to turning himself in to the US Army at Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
. Later, he claims the Army reneged on its promise, and so he deserted again.
Arrest in Canada
On February 23, 2007, Snyder was arrested by local police in the town of Nelson, British ColumbiaNelson, British Columbia
Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the extreme West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings from its glory days in a regional silver rush,...
, then released when Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Citizenship and Immigration Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for issues dealing with immigration and citizenship...
informed the police they had no legal basis for arresting him. The decision to arrest came after information from an undisclosed source prompted the Nelson City Police to contact the Canada Border Services Agency
Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement and customs services....
who, according to Nelson Police Chief Constable Dan Maluta "said yes, we believe he is illegally in Canada and arrestable under the Immigration Act
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, passed in 2001 as Bill C-11, which replaced the Immigration Act of 1976 as the primary federal legislation regulating Immigration to Canada....
". Maluta acknowledged that the immigration agency was not their "original source" for information on Snyder, and Snyder reported that Josie Perry, the Canadian immigration official who ordered his release, had said that the arrest had been conducted at the behest of officials from the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. A witness to the arrest reported that at the time of the arrest, the two officers said they did not have a warrant but could get one if necessary. Maluta confirmed that they did not have a Feeney warrant
R. v. Feeney
R. v. Feeney, [1997] 2 S.C.R. 13 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the right, under section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms against unreasonable search and seizure...
that would have allowed them into the home.
Members of Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
Bill Siksay
Bill Siksay
William Livingstone Siksay, former MP is a Canadian politician, and was the Member of Parliament who represented the British Columbia riding of Burnaby—Douglas for the New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2011.Receiving his high school diploma from McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute in...
and Alex Atamanenko
Alex Atamanenko
Alex T. Atamanenko MP is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the House of Commons in 2006, winning the riding of British Columbia Southern Interior for the New Democratic Party in the 2006 federal election...
have called for an official probe into the arrest . Chief Constable Dan Maluta has said that his police forces' actions will be investigated by the Abbotsford
Abbotsford, British Columbia
Abbotsford is a Canadian city located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, adjacent to Greater Vancouver. It is the fifth largest municipality in British Columbia, home to 123,864 people . Its Census Metropolitan Area, which includes the District of Mission, is the 23rd largest in Canada,...
police, whose chief will have the authority to take disciplinary action.
Snyder's lawyer is James Fennerty of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.