Protests erupt after farmer acquitted in Colten Boushie death
Posted February 10, 2018 12:29 pm.
Last Updated February 10, 2018 12:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A Justice for Colten gathering is underway in Vancouver.
This comes as protesters rallied across the country amid a chorus of outrage after a white farmer was acquitted in the shooting death of a young Indigenous man in Saskatchewan.
A jury in Battleford, Sask., found Gerald Stanley not guilty of second degree murder on Friday in the death of 22-year-old Colten Boushie, a resident of the Red Pheasant First Nation.
Protests were held in Battleford, Halifax, Toronto and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa the day after the decision was made.
The sound of people chanting a Cree honour song mixed with the noon bells of the Peace Tower on the Hill, and event organizer Lynne Courchene says that Stanley’s acquittal symbolizes systemic racism in the justice system.
— Monika Gul (@MonikaGul) February 10, 2018
Courchene says she wasn’t surprised by the decision, the makeup of the jury and the reported absence of anyone of Indigenous descent.
The Vancouver event’s Facebook page says people will be gathering to “demonstrate our community frustration for the jury decision”. Organizers are calling for a day of action to show solidarity with Boushie’s family.
