‘We are still here’: Justice 4 Black Lives plans daily one-hour protests next week

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This article was published 17/06/2020 (1555 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The group of organizers behind the Justice 4 Black Lives march in Winnipeg, which drew roughly 15,000 people into the streets on June 5, has announced a string of protests for seven consecutive days, beginning Monday.

“Every day for seven days straight we will peacefully protest for an hour… chant loudly, be seen, be heard and then go home,” reads a social media post from Justice 4 Black Lives Winnipeg.

“We want everyone to know we are still here and we are definitely not going anywhere.”

Each protest will take place from 3 to 4 p.m., although the locations of the demonstrations will only be announced on the morning of the events for “safety reasons,” organizers said.

The organizers pointed to the recent controversial arrest of Flinn Nolan Dorian, a 33-year-old Indigenous man in the Exchange District, as an example of public officials “not taking our demands seriously.”

Video footage of the arrest showed Dorian being kicked twice, repeatedly kneed and punched seven times by members of the Winnipeg Police Service on June 11.

The WPS has stood by the actions of its officers — who were initially called to the scene for reports of a man breaking into a commercial building, destroying property and brandishing a handgun (which turned out to be an airsoft pistol) — saying they were in line with use-of-force protocols.

Dorian is facing multiple criminal charges in connection with the incident.

“We are demanding the names of the officers to be released to the public, as well as for them to be fired immediately. The Winnipeg Police ‘Service’ must be defunded and abolished,” the organizers wrote.

“Our demands will be heard, we will be listened to. There’s been no justice, so there will be no peace.”

The upcoming protests organized by Justice 4 Black Lives Winnipeg will follow on the heels of Friday’s demonstration at the Manitoba Legislative Building in honour of Eishia Hudson, a 16-year-old Indigenous girl shot to death by Winnipeg police in April.

Hudson was one of three Indigenous people shot to death by Winnipeg police in a 10-day period that month.

NDP MP Leah Gazan issued a press release saying she will attend Friday’s rally.

“As we have all witnessed in the news, the police brutality is all too common against Indigenous and Black lives,” Gazan (Winnipeg Centre) said in a written statement.

“Now is the time to speak out against grotesque acts of systemic violence and join to rebuild systems that support healthy communities.”

Hudson’s father has also stated publicly he will attend the rally.

 

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @rk_thorpe