‘We don’t need any violence. But we want answers’
Thousands take to Toronto streets after woman dies during police call to apartment.
Thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday demanding justice for Regis Korchinski-Paquet, three days after the 29-year-old woman fell to her death from a High Park highrise, in an incident that is now under investigation by Ontario’s civilian police watchdog.
A group called Not Another Black Life organized the protest, which began at Christie Pits Park early Saturday afternoon and culminated hours later outside Toronto police headquarters on College Street — though hundreds continued the protest long after organizers asked the crowd to disperse.
With controversy mounting over Korchinski-Paquet’s death — and on the heels of other high-profile deaths involving police in both Canada and the United States, where some of the ensuing protests turned violent — her family began the day by issuing a statement urging a peaceful gathering in their loved one’s name.
“This is what we call solidarity,” a woman identified only as a member of Korchinski-Paquet’s family said as she addressed the large crowd at the end of the march from the back of a pickup truck carrying a speaker system. “When we come together for a cause, this is what happens. It’s good to know Black people can come out and protest peacefully. We don’t need any violence … but we want answers.”
She reiterated the family’s call for details from the police, requesting names, badge numbers and information about whoever was in the apartment with Korchinski-Paquet when she plunged 24 storeys to her death. Korchinski-Paquet’s mother had called police on Wednesday because her daughter was in distress over a family conflict and needed to be taken to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, according to Knia Singh, a Toronto human rights lawyer who is the family spokesperson. Her death is now the subject of an investigation by Ontario’s civilian police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit.
Saturday’s statement from Korchinski-Paquet’s family also rejects a comment made by Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders, who said on Friday that at least two of the three calls made to police on Wednesday night mentioned knives.
“The family states that when the police arrived and spoke with Regis, (her mother) Claudette and (her sister) Reece, there was no knife present and no assault taking place,” the statement read. “The family strongly believes that Regis’s death could have been prevented.
Members of Korchinski-Paquet’s family led Saturday’s march, which spanned about four kilometres and lasted more than three hours, carrying a banner that read, “Not Another Black Life” and wearing shirts with the words “Get your knees off our necks.” This was a reference to George Floyd, a 46year-old Black man who died last week after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he begged for air. The officer in that case, Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Friday.
Toronto police walked alongside the march and guarded police headquarters without incident on Saturday.
“This does not end after today,” said protester Cara McArthur, a member of the Dandelion Initiative, a non-profit organization led by and dedicated to survivors of sexual violence. “I should not be standing here watching mothers crying because they called the police to help. A mother’s child should not be taken away in a body bag because she called for help. We need to do the work on an individual level. We cannot depend on the police to keep us safe; we cannot depend on the media to have the right stories out there.”
The story on Saturday was that of a peaceful but vocal crowd who ensured their message about anti-Black and antiIndigenous racism was heard on the streets of Toronto and beyond, with chants like “Black lives matter where? Black lives matter here.” The crowd was full of colourful signs bearing messages such as “Silence is betrayal” and “We are tired.” Many in the crowd wore masks with the words “I can’t breathe” printed on them — another nod to Floyd, as well as a sign of the times as the protest took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers emphasized social distancing and carried personal protective equipment, gloves and hand sanitizer for participants who needed them, but many protesters wore masks because it was difficult to practise distancing in such a large crowd.
The march was initially slated to end at Queen’s Park, but organizers changed the route to avoid crossing paths with a weekly protest against provincial lockdown measures.