Protest at legislature expected to draw thousands

EDMONTON Thousands are expected to attend a Friday rally at the Alberta legislature to protest George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The Equality for all Facebook group for the Edmonton event, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Friday, was created Sunday by Tiera Williams and her sister Tasmine Williams to denounce racism and Floyd’s death. It had ballooned to more than 6,700 members by Tuesday.

“I thought I would take the group of my 20 to 30 friends where I made the group and go protest together, but it shows how many people are willing to stand up (against) racism and actually make a difference,” Tiera Williams said Tuesday.

Floyd, a 46-year-old African-american man, died last Monday after a police officer knelt on his neck in the minutes before he died. Officers involved have been fired, including Derek Chauvin who is facing murder charges.

Williams said she has invited police, but their involvement hasn’t been determined.

More than 1,000 people were killed by police in the U.S. in 2019, with black people making up a disproportionate number of deaths, according to researchers with the Mapping Police Violence project.

Protests across the U.S. over the last week were reported to have been predominantly peaceful during the day before turning violent at night, with reports of looting and fires, and excessive force, tear gas and rubber bullets being shot by police at protesters.

Thousands protested in Calgary on Monday. Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver have also seen protests.