Calls for change at vigil held for Black man killed by Repentigny police

Jonathan François lives in Montreal's Rivière-des-Prairies neighbourhood and if a neighbour's party is too loud or kids are shooting fireworks in the streets, he doesn't call the police.

He says he's scared what will happen when police arrive. 

In Rivière-des-Prairies, he says he's not the only one who feels that way. People intervene themselves, policing their own neighbourhood, rather than call in law enforcement, he said.

On Wednesday evening, he was among dozens who attended a vigil for the late Jean René Junior Olivier who was killed by police in Repentigny, just east of Montreal.

Marie-Mireille Bence, Olivier's mother, called police Sunday morning asking them to bring her son to hospital because he was having a mental health issue. 

Instead of helping him, Bence said, six police officers arrived at her doorstep and shot him in the stomach. When police arrived, he had been holding a dinner knife, but the family said he had dropped it.

"If he was a white a person, he would not have died," François said.

Pierre-Richard Thomas, who heads Lakay Media, has been fighting for years to end racial discrimination in Repentigny.

The non-profit group organized Wednesday's vigil, inviting "the entire population of Repentigny, whites or Blacks, to send a message to the city: that's enough," said Thomas.

Andrés Fontecilla, a Québec Solidaire MNA for the Laurier-Dorion riding, says there has to be an investigation into the shooting.

He says the friends and family of Olivier want answers and "I believe it is up to the government to answer these questions."

Dolmine Laguerre, Olivier's cousin, says the family is devastated, sad and mad.

"Are we safe in Repentigny? Are Black people welcome in Repentigny? We don't feel welcome. We feel we are a target," she said.

"We feel it is unfair for us to die just because our skin colour is different. We don't feel safe here."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.