‘Yosif was one of us ... he mattered’ MATTHEW VAN DONGEN
Council chambers overflowing as community joins in grief and support for slain Brock student
Majid Al-Hasnawi first thanked fellow Hamiltonians at an overflowing memorial service Saturday night for “overwhelming” support in the wake of his son’s shooting death.
But the grieving father also demanded justice for Yosif Al-Hasnawi, who was killed last Saturday after trying to help an older man being harassed by two other men near the AlMoustafa Islamic Centre.
“This memorial service gives me lots of strength,” said Majid Al-Hasnawi after greeting some of the hundreds of people who squeezed into Hamilton City Hall council chambers — and overflowed well into the atri-
um outside. The mayor, religious leaders from various faiths and local, federal and provincial politicians attended.
He also later shared a “comforting” memory of how his son succeeded in a lifelong goal despite his life being cut short.
He recalled his son telling him he wanted to go into medicine to make a difference in the lives of others. “He said … I want to serve humanity. I want to leave some trace behind me,” he said.
Al-Hasnawi also praised Hamilton police for quickly making arrests in the case. Dale Burningsky King, 19, is the alleged shooter and charged with second-degree murder, while a man and a woman are also charged as accessories after the fact.
But he added his family wants “someone to be held to account” for the treatment of their son after he was shot.
Multiple witnesses have alleged paramedics at the scene didn’t take the 19-year-old’s gunshot wound seriously, dismissing it as a pellet gun injury. Police have reported the ambulance showed up at 9:01 p.m. that night and left the scene at 9:39 p.m. and the Ministry of Health is probing the incident.
“They didn’t do their job … I need justice,” said Al-Hasnawi. Other speakers also called for answers. Talib Al-Jalili, a family friend and member of the Al-Moustafa Islamic Centre, appealed for “clarifications and satisfactory answers” to outstanding questions over how the aspiring medical student was treated after he was shot.
But Al-Jalili and many others also celebrated the “coming together” of residents in support of the family, regardless of race or religion.
Retired lawyer David Harvey told the crowd he is helping collect donations to set up a memorial scholarship in Al-Hasnawi’s name at Brock University “so that Yosif’s dream can live through future students.”
Harvey’s voice trembled as he told the crowd he never met Al-Hasnawi, but he wanted to find a way to tell the family “this senseless violence is not who we are as citizens of Hamilton or citizens of Canada.”
“Yosif was one of us … He mattered and he will be remembered.”