A banner calling for justice for a Wet’suwet’en man who was fatally shot by Campbell River RCMP on July 8 was dropped from Kelowna’s pedestrian bridge on Tuesday, July 20.
Jared Lowndes, 38, was killed in a police-involved altercation in the parking lot of a Cambell River Tim Hortons. An officer boxed in Lowndes’s vehicle outside the restaurant, before confronting him with a police dog.
During the incident, Lowndes fatally stabbed the police dog before he was shot, dying a short time later. According to the National Police Federation, Mounties were attempting to stop Lowndes in relation to an outstanding warrant for weapons offences before he fled in his vehicle.
READ MORE: Family of Wet’suwet’en man fatally shot by Campbell River RCMP calls for inquiry
Written on the banner that dropped in Kelowna were “#IndigenousLivesMatter” and “#JusticeForJared.”
Kelowna activist Jacqueline Gullion said that those behind the banner drop support the series of protests and memorials for Lowndes.
The same day that the banner was dropped, more than 100 people rallied outside of the Campbell River RCMP detachment to protest Lowndes’s death and mourn his loss.
“Imagine what those three gunshots sounded like,” said Laura Holland to Campbell River RCMP members on Tuesday. “I’ll never see him again,” she continued. “I’ll never see my son’s face again.”
READ MORE: VIDEO: Family of slain Indigenous man confront RCMP in Campbell River
The protest outside of the RCMP detachment was just one of the locations of a mobile rally in Campbell River, with other stops including the city’s downtown and the Willow Point Tim Horton’s where the fatal altercation took place.
The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) is reviewing the incident surrounding Lowndes’s death.
With files from Marc Kitteringham, Alistair Taylor and Sean Feagan
READ MORE: Rally for Jared Lowndes travels across Campbell River
@aaron_hemensaaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com
