A 27-year-old man says he was attacked by a gang who mistakenly believed he belonged to a rival gang because of the colour of clothing he was wearing.
John Huard was waiting for a bus on Saturday night at the corner of Donald Street and Portage Avenue around 8:30 p.m.
Huard, a father of three, was alone at the time and was wearing red clothes when he was surrounded by four teen suspects.
"They were like, ‘who are you repping? Why are you wearing red in our 'hood?'" says Huard. He told them he wasn't in a gang and was just heading home.
"It's just sad that you can't even walk down the street wearing your favourite colour or wearing a certain hat," says Huard.
The teens pushed him against a wall and one of the suspects said he was armed with a knife, says Huard.
The suspects demanded Huard hand over cash, cigarettes and the jewelry he was wearing.
Huard says he gave the items to the suspects, who then left.
Const. Jason Michalyshen, a spokesperson for Winnipeg police, says Huard did the safe thing by giving the robbers what they wanted and handing over items.
Police say people don't need to be worried about what colour clothing they are wearing, since incidents such as the one involving Huard are not common.
Officers advise people to be aware of their surroundings at all times.
Police continue to investigate the robbery and are checking nearby security cameras to see if the attack was caught on them.
- with a report from CTV's Caroline Barghout
