Anti-police brutality vigil planned for Saturday in Victoria Park

A coalition of McMaster student groups will gather on Saturday evening in Victoria Park for a vigil honouring victims of police brutality.

"We were frustrated after seeing a lot of things online recently," saidSarahJama, Co-President of one of the organizing groups,McMasterWomanists,referring to the widely-viewed police killings of Alton Sterling andPhilandoCastile: two black men who were shot and killed by police in the United Statesin recent weeks.

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They were also frustrated by the backlash against Black Lives Matter Toronto, whose members disrupted the Toronto Pride parade and demanded they exclude Toronto Police.

"We are all implicated in the injustice that has and continues to threaten the safety and rights of POC (people of colour) and Indigenous communities in Canada," says the group'sFacebook event page. It also says, "This is not a police protest." Rather, they say, it's about changing violent practices in the criminal justice system.

The shootings in the U.S. of Sterling and Castile stirred renewed vigour inconversations about racism, and in the activism calling for change, including a protest in Dallas that ended when several police officers were shot, killing five of them.

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Why Hamilton though?

"There hasn't been a lot of activism around this issue in Hamilton," Jama said.

"Locally, we've seen huge issues with carding practices, and that speaks to the abuse of power, where random people are stopped. And we can talk about De Caire, and the ACTION committee."

The Action team created by former Chief GlennDe Ccaire used street stops, or carding as a key tool. Statistics released by police last year showed the tactic disproportionately targets visible minorities.

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One expected attendee to Saturday's]vigil isWard 3 councilor Matthew Green, Hamilton's first black councilor. Green himself was questioned by police in April while waiting for the bus, an experience he called humiliating and frustrating.

The vigil will be held from6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., starting at the northeast corner of Victoria Park.

Hamilton Policetold the CBC in anemail it"respectsthe right for peaceful demonstration.The role of the police is to protect the public; including people participating in demonstrations. We are aware of the demonstration and our ongoing responsibility is public safety."

dave.beatty@cbc.ca | @dbeatty