Nearly two months to the day after 29-year-old Afro-Indigenous resident Regis Korchinski-Paquet fell from a 24th-floor High Park balcony to her death during an encounter with police, Toronto residents are rallying once again this weekend to demand justice and transparency in her case, and an end to systemic racism in policing.
Protesters will gather at the young woman's apartment building at 100 High Park Avenue at 1 p.m. on Saturday to hold a memorial service before a group walk that will end with speakers and performances near the Duck Pond in High Park itself.
The event is the first official annual walk in Korchinski-Paquet's name, as organized by her family and Black Lives Matter Toronto, along with the Latinx, Afro-Latin-America and Abya Yala Education Network.
"The police had been called to support her in a crisis and this resulted instead in her tragic death," a Facebook event for the rally reads.
"Her family, community, and well-wishers are gathering for a memorial service, march, and performances, to demand justice, and an end to the constant deaths of Black and Indigenous community members at hands of police."
The first protest for the cause took place days after the incident back in May, and was one of countless that have continued to wage across the world as people call for an end to race-based violence and police impunity in the wake of such tragic losses — and also call for governments to re-allocate police funds to other types of unarmed frontline workers and community supports to help prevent crime in the first place.
A funeral for Korchinski-Paquet was held back on June 11, and a petition demanding justice for her has reached nearly one million signatures. Meanwhile, the Ontario Special Investigations Unit's probe into the circumstances surrounding her death is currently still ongoing, though nearly complete, pending additional information from her family's legal representation.
by Becky Robertson via blogTO
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