Peaceful protest held at Gore Park in support of Black Lives Matter
- Craig Clark
- 01 Jun 2020
Protesters in Hamilton took a knee with a fist in the air for a moment of silence to show togetherness with thousands of other demonstrators around the world rallying in response to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
People in the Hamilton area gathered in Gore Park to spread awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement and protest in solidarity with those who have experienced unjust actions, discrimination, and violence due to racism.
https://twitter.com/AnthUrch/status/1267504236943769600
A few hundred protesters held peaceful demonstrations Monday afternoon. The organizers, Foreign Waves International, were reportedly handing out masks and enforcing physical distancing guidelines. The local clothing retailer and event promoter posted information for the protest on Saturday.
Chants were led by the organizers that made reference to George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota last week. Video of a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck went viral resulting in mass protests across the United States.
The peaceful demonstration in Hamilton had no reported incidents. Similar protests have also been held in Toronto and across Canada as well as the United States.
Monday’s protests followed up a similar event that took place on Saturday. After posters for a protest started to appear around the city, hundreds of eager demonstrators showed up to Gage Park. However, the information on the posters didn’t reveal the organizers.
According to Twitter user @SaraJama_, organizers of the rally never showed and left protesters confused. Jama, who works as an Outreach Coordinator at the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, said that a group of them stepped in to help run the protest but warned people not to attend events in which they don’t know the organizers.
https://twitter.com/SarahJama_/status/1266867302139658241
Organizers of Saturday’s event still haven’t come forward and the Twitter community has theorized that it was well-intentioned teenagers.
Controversy has also struck Canadian police services around their treatment of minority groups. A rally was held in Toronto after the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who allegedly fell from her apartment balcony while police were present.
Protests in Montreal on Sunday led to 11 arrests and dozens of businesses damaged after the anti-racism rally.
Lead photo courtesy of @dschuurmanator.
Comments 0
There are no comments
Add comment