Montreal Is Organizing Its Own Protest In Solidarity With Minneapolis & Toronto
Right now there is a massive amount of unrest, and it's not just south of the border. Canada's protests about racial injustice are being held this weekend. Both Toronto and Montreal groups will be holding their own events.
A Facebook event page was created for an event titled "MTL: Justice for George Floyd & ALL victims of police racism," which is set to take place on May 31 starting at 5:00 PM. It will be held at Montreal Police Headquarters at 1441 St-Urbain St.
The protest is being held in response to the deaths of people like George Floyd in Minneapolis, Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto, and other "victims of police impunity."
Floyd was killed after being pinned to the ground by arresting officer Derek Chauvin, who has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, as reported by CTV News.
Regis Korchinski-Paquet fell from a balcony during an encounter with Toronto Police. An internal investigation is looking into the incident.
The event, which is an initiative by anti-police brutality and anti-racist activists and organizers, is also protesting police action against black people in Montreal.
"As we denounce recent police killings in the USA, we also denounce police killings of Black Lives here in Montreal," the event description reads, " from Anthony Griffin in NDG in 1987 to BonyJean-Pierre in Montréal-Nord (2016), Pierre Coriolan in Centre-Sud (2017) and Nicholas Gibbs in NDG (2018)."
Organizers are also asking protesters to respect social distancing protocols, which include maintaining two metres of space from others and wearing masks if possible.
This is what protests in Minneapolis looked like on Friday, the fourth night of escalating unrest. Watch the full v… https://t.co/Ne1i0iac7n— The New York Times (@The New York Times) 1590850633.0
As of writing, roughly 1,400 people have responded that they will be attending the protest, while an additional 3,100 have said they are interested.
Protests and riots have now gone on for days in the United States, with large groups gathering in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Atlanta, Detroit, and other cities.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the situation in his address on May 29, acknowledging that racism is also still present in Canada.
