Hundreds gather in memory of Eishia Hudson, 16, who was fatally shot by Winnipeg police a year ago

About 300 people attended a vigil in Winnipeg to honour a 16-year old girl who was fatally shot by a Winnipeg police officer a year ago Thursday.

Memorials were also scheduled to be held inVancouver, Toronto and Halifax Thursday evening to honour the life of Eishia Hudson, who died on April 8, 2020.

The family is doing "fairly well," said Assembly of Manitoba ChiefsGrand Chief Arlen Dumas.

"I commend their tireless efforts to continue elevating this issue and ensuring that no one forgets what happened with Eishiaa year ago."

In the late afternoon of April 8, 2020, Winnipeg police were following a vehicle that had been reported stolen, and the occupants of which were involved in a liquor store robbery in the Sage Creek neighbourhood. But as they were following, the vehicle reversed into the police cruiser and a chase ensued.

Shortly after 5:30 p.m., police stopped the vehicle at the intersection ofLagimodiere Boulevard and Fermor Avenue. Police were trying to apprehendthe occupants when one officer fired his gun at the driver, Eishia Hudson. She was shot in the chest and died.

An autopsy report later determined that Hudson died from the gunshot wound and her death was labelled a homicide.

Ahead of the event Thursday night, organizers hung red ribbons around the circle,a colour associated with missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

There was also a large mural painted by local Cree-Saulteaux-Ukrainian artist Annie Beach, that was painted in Eishia's favourite colour lavender. People at the vigil were invited to pin lavender clothflowers to the mural.

Drum groups and powwow dancers performed, and several people walked around the crowd with smudge bowls.

"We're here tonight to show our love, our comfort and our compassion to the family. And we're doing it in ceremony. We gather in ceremony whenever we have memorials," said elder Gerry Shingoose, who opened the vigil with a prayer.

"I know that Eishia liked to paint, and I know that she liked to spend time with her friends, but most of all she liked to spend a lot of time with her family.

"She was outgoing, she was a happy youth, and we're here today to honour her [it] was a young life taken that should have never happened."

Assembly of Manitoba Grand Chief Arlen Dumas and MP Leah Gazan also spoke at the event.

WPS officer cleared of wrongdoing

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, one of Manitoba's police oversight agencies, opened a case into the incident, but the final investigation report released Jan. 28, 2021,cleared the officer involved of any wrongdoing.

Manitoba's chief medical examiner has since called an inquest into Hudson's death. Thefatality inquest will examinethe circumstances surroundinghow the teen died and will offer recommendations to avoid similar outcomes in the future but it cannot assign blame.

The Manitoba government publicly released an external review of the Police Services Act which was launched long before Hudson was killedin November of last year. It made 70 recommendations to improve policing and police oversight in Manitoba. A bill was introduced to the legislature shortly after with proposed amendments to the legislation.

The proposalwas supposed to be reviewed during the currentlegislative sitting, but Cameron Friesen, who took over as justice minister this year after a cabinet shuffle,decided to hold on to the proposed legislation to do more consultation with Indigenous leadership. He cited Hudson's death and the ensuing IIU report as part of his reasoning.

Thegreater Indigenous community in Manitoba is still feeling the impact of Hudson's death,said Dumas.

"There's a lot of discomfort," he said.

"Unfortunately, there was a lot of questionsmore so than answers that came from that [IIU] report. There's a lot of effortthat we have done through the advocacy at the assembly to develop a more comprehensive and more unbiased process on how those reports are completed."

The AMC has had constructive conversations with Friesenand has pushed for greater civilian oversight and transparency of the IIUand police oversight, he said.

At the same time, Dumas is disappointed it took the death of a 16-year-old girl to spark a desire for greater change, because it isn't a new issue. Dumas cited the deaths of J.J. Harper and Helen Betty Osborne as examples.

With regards to Thursday's vigils, Dumas says it's important to acknowledge the tragedy that occurred, but also that Eishia Hudson "left a legacy, and that we have to endeavour to try and correct and fix things so that those types of tragedies are made more minimal in the future."

The vigil in Winnipeg was held at the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited monument at The Forks, and attendees wereasked to adhere to public health guidelines.

Winnipeg vigil in memory of Eishia Hudson

3 years ago

Duration 1:19

About 300 people attended a vigil in Winnipeg to honour a 16-year old Eishia Hudson who was fatally shot by a Winnipeg police officer a year ago Thursday.