Media Release: Montrealers participate in global day of protest in solidarity with Ferguson uprising

Attention News Editors / For immediate release
Montrealers participate in global day of protest in solidarity with Ferguson uprising
Sunday, August 17 at 6pm
at 480 Gilford, métro Laurier (St-Joseph exit)
Media Contact: Ted Rutland, 514-754-4040
(August 16, 2014, Montreal) In the wake of the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed African American man shot this month by police in Ferguson, Missouri, Montrealers are holding a vigil this Sunday, August 17 at 6pm in front of the Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal at 480 Gilford, métro Laurier (St-Joseph exit).
The event is part of a global day of protest in solidarity with the family of Michael Brown and the uprising in Ferguson. Those organizing the vigil, which will take place outside the Fraternité de policiers et policières de Montréal, say they will call attention to problems with police conduct here in Montreal.
“There are long histories of police violence and anti-black racism in Montreal,” says Rosalind Hampton, one of the organizers of the event. “These issues receive public attention every once in a while when something dramatic happens, but to those who are most impacted they are ongoing, everyday concerns.” Hampton said that black people constantly receive messages that they are not valued, and indeed that their lives are at risk – especially by police violence – regardless of their behaviour.
“From Ferguson to Montreal, police continue to take lives while avoiding justice,” said Alex Popovic, who will speak at the event. “They wanted to make us believe that Fredy Villanueva attempted to disarm officer Jean-Loup Lapointe in the same way they want us to swallow that Michael Brown tried to disarm officer Darren Wilson but we are not fooled.”
The global day of protest was called by Anonymous, a loosely organized global network of activists and hackers who have following events in Ferguson. “It is time to show everyone that Ferguson is not alone,” the group said in a communiqué. “This is a national epidemic, join with Mike Brown’s family and the families of thousands lost by killer police each year.”
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