A protest against anti-black violence and racism took over the grounds in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery on Sunday night.
Thousands attended the rally, which Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer said was peaceful.
The protest Sunday (May 31) comes after nearly a week of protests in the United States, which were sparked by a Minneapolis police officer seen on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who died in custody after pleading that he could not breathe. Derek Chauvin was charged with murder Friday, and all four police officers present during Floyd’s death have been fired.
Floyd’s death was the latest in a series of confrontations, assaults and deaths of black Americans. On Feb. 23, Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot in Georgia while jogging. On March 13, Breonna Taylor, 26, was killed during a nighttime “no-knock warrant” by plainclothes Louisville police officers. On May 25, a woman called the police on Christian Cooper to tell them he was “threatening [her] life” when Cooper asked the woman to put her dog on a leash in New York’s Central Park.
In Canada, protesters also want answers about Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a black woman fell to her death from a 24th-floor apartment when police responded to a 911 call. Korchinski-Paquet’s death is being investigated by the police watchdog.
TY #Vancouver for exercising your right to lawful #PeacefulDemonstration at the #VAG! #ProudCanadian
TY to our #VPD officers for your professionalism & committment to #CommunityWellbeing! #ProudChief
Everyone went home safely #HowWeDoit in #YVR @VancouverPD pic.twitter.com/CEwYwlp6Sz
— Adam Palmer (@ChiefPalmer) June 1, 2020
..It’s a big crowd at the Vancouver Art Gallery for #BlackLivesMatter #protest #GeorgeFloyd #vanpoli #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/VfX93BjF6l
— Lindsay Brown (@Lidsville) June 1, 2020
Incredible, hopeful, peaceful, determined crowd (masks on, 2m apart) at #Vancouver Art Gallery to protest racism and creeping fascism. 10,000 I guess. Lots of antifascists here @realDonaldTrump, ya can't arrest us all ✊✊ pic.twitter.com/KshneDRpU8
— Jim Stanford (@JimboStanford) June 1, 2020
Here's an amazing shot of the crowd outside the Vancouver Art Gallery today. Everyone of you that was there deserves a standing O for showing solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters. #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/bNHKdtVd5r
— Tej Dhaliwal (@DrDangles87) June 1, 2020
this is the #vancouverprotest at the Vancouver Art Gallery downtown. #GeorgeFloyd #NoJusticeNoPeace pic.twitter.com/jrFswmjxn6
— S⃣UMMER ✊ðŸ½âœŠðŸ¾âœŠðŸ¿ (@summersincities) June 1, 2020
Jacob Callender-Prasad, the organizer of the event, had called for Sunday rally to be peaceful.
“We do not need to riot in Vancouver, we do not need to destroy our community – that’s not needed here,” Callender-Prasad said in a video posted to the Black Vancouver Instagram page.
“It’s not the same as the United States. We don’t have cops going around causing damage here.”
Callender-Prasad has asked attendees to wear face masks and practice social distancing as COVID-19 precautions remain in effect in B.C. Organizers had expected about 1,000 to 2,000 people
Callender-Prasad said Sunday’s event would include a social media shoutout to U.S. President Donald Trump “to ask him to actually push the governor in Minnesota, to push them to charge those other three officers.”
Callender-Prasad said that although police brutality may be more prevalent south of the border, there are still issues in Canada to address.
“We still have instances in Canada of these unwanted and unfortunate events.”
The Vancouver chapter of Black Lives Matter said it was not the organizer of the event but stood in solidarity with those protesting.
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