Cindy Gladue verdict prompts rallies in Regina, Saskatoon

The death of Cindy Gladue and the not guilty verdict in the murder trial of an Ontario man has sparked protests across the country, including in Saskatchewan.

A rally was held on Thursday afternoon outside Regina's Court of Queen's Bench.

Several families of local missing and murdered indigenous women were at the protest, including Tara LaPlante. Her grandmother and cousin are both missing.

"As far as I'm concerned, they threw out good pieces of evidence that could have been used and it's just, it's still not fair,"LaPlante said. "She deserves justice. Just because she lived her life a certain way doesn't mean she's less than anybody else."

People in Saskatoon rallied outside of Saskatoon City Hall on Thursday afternoon.

"It just feels like a bad TV movie that you can't turn the channel off," organizer Tasha Hubbard said. "The level of violence, the way her body was dissected, and the way she was dehumanized, and the fact that there was no indigenous representation on the jury."

Gladue's body was found in the bathtub of Bradley Barton'sEdmonton hotel room in June 2011. She died from an 11 centimetre wound in her vagina.

Barton claimed Gladue, who was a sex trade worker, died as a result of rough sex.

On March 18, a jury found Barton not guilty of first-degree murder, as well as of manslaughter in Gladue's death.

People originally gathered in Regina to protest Barton's acquittal, but many people arrived to voice their support over the news that the Alberta Crown is appealing the decision.