Protesters rally against police shootings
‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THIS UNTIL WE GET JUSTICE’
Hundreds of protesters shut down a portion of Allen Rd. for nearly two hours Monday evening to call for justice for two local black men killed by police in the past year.
The protest, organized by Black Lives Matter Toronto, started as a “Day of Action” rally around 5 p.m. at Eglinton Gilbert Parkette. The parkette, near Eglinton Ave. W. and Caledonia Rd., is steps from the building where Andrew Loku, a 45year-old man from South Sudan, was fatally shot by Toronto police in early July.
From there, protesters walked east to Allen Rd., and a line of protesters, accompanied by about 150 others, linked arms to block the southbound ramp to Eglinton around 7:30 p.m., bringing traffic to a standstill.
“Every day in our city, black men are stopped on their way to work, on their way to pick up their children from school, on their way to school themselves ... Sometimes they are beaten, sometimes they are carded, sometimes they’re arrested and killed, and that is not only an inconvenience for us as black people, it’s against all of our rights and values,” said Desmond Cole, a black Toronto writer and activist. “So in order for us to fight back, we have to do this, we will continue to do this until we get justice.”
Janaya Khan, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto, said the blockade was part of a broader goal.
“We’re here as part of a larger campaign to ensure that justice is met for Jermaine Carby, for Andrew Loku, and to call an end to anti-black practices and police brutality against black populations,” Khan said.
JANAYA KHAN BLACK LIVES MATTER “We’re here as part of a larger campaign to ensure that justice is met for Jermaine Carby, for Andrew Loku.”
Carby was shot dead by Peel police in Brampton during a traffic stop last September.
Last week, the Special Investigations Unit, a provincial watchdog that investigates deaths and injuries involving police officers, announced it would not be pressing charges in Carby’s death.
Khan noted a disproportionate number of federal inmates — about 10 per cent — are black, even though blacks make up less than 3 per cent of the Canadian population.
“Those numbers are astronomical. We’re calling for a larger look at what the systemic issues are that are causing black Canadians to be streamlined to federal prisons,” she said.
Khan also pointed to “carding,” the controversial police policy of street checks that a Star investigation revealed to be applied disproportionately to black Torontonians.
“We will continue to agitate and we’ll continue to stand in solidarity with the families until justice is done,” she said.
Protesters also expressed solidarity for Sandra Bland, a black woman arrested during a traffic stop in Texas and found dead in her jail cell three days later of an apparent suicide.
At one point, the peaceful demonstration blocked Allen Rd. in both directions, with traffic backed up to Highway 401, while marchers chanted slogans like, “Shut it down,” “Black lives matter,” and “I know that we will win!”
Desmond Cole, a black Toronto writer and activist who spoke at the rally, said many people in the blockade — including lawyers, activists and community advocates — had tried to get action through “official channels” like police board meetings and talking to city councillors but were frustrated by the lack of results. During the roughly two-hour blockade, some vehicles stuck on Al- len Rd. turned around and started driving against the normal flow of traffic in an effort to get out. The blockade cleared around 9 p.m.
Cole said it was about more than stopping traffic.
“This is not about people being inconvenienced for one night on the highway. It’s about almost 30 years of police brutality against one community. That’s how people should view this,” he said.
In addition to the protesters’ expression of anger, sadness, defiance and frustration, there was also dancing, singing and celebration.
“We have a responsibility because a lot of people are no longer alive, at the hands of the police,” Cole said. “And, frankly, a lot of black people who don’t get killed by the police, they’re not free — they’re in jail. And so they cannot be out here dancing with us. If they could, I know that they would be out here dancing in the street with us. So we are using our bodies to show love and support for them too.”