TORONTO -- Organizers of healing walks held in memory of Chantel Moore, an Indigenous woman killed by police during a wellness check last week, say Friday鈥檚 fatal police shooting of another Indigenous man underscores the need for healing within the community.
鈥淯nfortunately, it happened again last night,鈥� Martha Martin, the mother of 26-year-old Moore, told 麻豆传媒. 鈥淣obody should have to feel afraid.鈥�
Martin was surrounded by a large crowd that walked the streets of Edmundston, N.B., in silence Saturday to honour the life of her daughter who died after she was shot by a police officer on June 4. Simultaneous walks were held in Vancouver, Fredericton, Halifax, Moncton, N.B. and Membertou, N.S.
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But for some, Saturday鈥檚 walks were marred by anger after the death of Rodney Levi, an Indigenous man killed by police on Friday night in Sunny Corner, N.B. His death marks the second time in nine days that an Indigenous person was shot and killed by New Brunswick police.
鈥淚 shouldn鈥檛 have to go out and fear my life. Nobody should,鈥� said Jayla Okoye, a 17-year-old resident of the Tobique First Nation. 鈥淚 just want everyone in my community to say 鈥榃e want justice.鈥欌��
Imelda Perly, an elder who helped organize the event, says Levi鈥檚 death underscored the importance of the healing walks, signifying a need for change and healing within the Indigenous community.
鈥淧eople were calling me [saying] what do we do? Do we still have the walk? And I said especially now,鈥� Perly told 麻豆传媒.
鈥�(We don鈥檛) call it a 鈥榩rotest鈥�. I don鈥檛 want that word in our language, because that鈥檚 not the way we do it.鈥�
A private funeral service was held for Moore in Edmundston on Thursday where she was remembered as a kind soul who united family from both sides of the country. She moved to the community three months ago to be near her mother and six-year-old daughter.
鈥淚 want justice. There鈥檚 no need for anybody to be shot. There鈥檚 no need for it,鈥� Martin said, adding she now has to be her daughter鈥檚 voice.
鈥淲e can all come together as one. The message is clear here, that we can all come together as one.鈥�
Quebec's independent police investigation agency, is investigating both shooting involving Moore and Levi. However, there are now calls for a broader inquiry to examine systemic bias against Indigenous people in the province's policing and criminal justice systems.
Jake Stewart, New Brunswick's minister of Aboriginal affairs supports the call, saying the province has a problem with systemic racism toward Indigenous people.
