Seven people were arrested for refusing to disperse when police cleared an anti-racism protest that blocked the viaducts that provide entry to Downtown Vancouver.
The protesters held Black Lives Matter signs, as well as ones that said “I can’t breathe” in honour of George Floyd, a Black man who died when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck. Others held signs asking to “defund the VPD,” while more still protested for trans lives and against the deaths of Indigenous peoples in Canada during police-involved incidents, including Chantel Moore, who was shot dead during a wellness check in New Brunswick in early June.
Vancouver police said more than 90 people left voluntarily when officers began to disperse the crowd at 6 a.m. Monday (June 15) but that the seven who refused were arrested. The protesters had been at the viaduct much of the past weekend.
Police are recommending charges of mischief and “intimidation by blocking a highway” against the seven arrested individuals.
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