Man shot dead by police in Repentigny "We want it to be like George Floyd"

(Repentigny) Members of the family of Jean René Junior Olivier, who was shot dead by police on Sunday in Repentigny, demanded “justice” for him, at a press conference on Monday.

"I'm waiting for justice," said the mother of the deceased, Marie-Mireille Bence, at a press briefing in front of the family home. "I'm angry," she continued. I call for help and they kill my son”. Dismayed, the latter demanded answers from the Repentigny police force. Monday afternoon, relatives, friends and organizations were on hand to support the immediate family and lay flowers in front of the house.

On the verge of tears, Marie-Mireille Bence traced the thread of events on Sunday. "My son told me that he saw people around him who wanted to hurt him," she said. To prevent him from injuring himself with the knife he was holding, she called 911 around 7:30 a.m. When the police intervened, Jean René Junior Olivier ended up putting the knife down, according to Marie-Mireille Bence. "That's where he was shot," laments the mother.

Kayshawn Olivier cannot explain the loss of his father. “Why three bullets? he said. My father was not threatening to the police. The young man argued that the police could have subdued him otherwise.

According to the press release from the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI), the police would have tried “to verbalize with the subject who would have fled on foot” and would have been threatening “towards them. After failing to subdue him with cayenne pepper, the police allegedly “fired several shots in the direction of the man and fatally hit him,” said the BEI.

The BEI investigation is still ongoing. The City of Repentigny Police Department did not want to comment on the events.

"Like George Floyd"

The cousin of the deceased, Dolmine Laguerre, wants there to be a mobilization. "We want it to be like George Floyd," she said. Black people have no justice. The latter fears that her children and those of the black community in general will suffer the same fate as Jean René Junior Olivier. “Are they safe, asked Dolmine Laguerre. No, they are not. »

Marie-Mireille Bence reiterated that she no longer trusted the police officers of the City. She said she was skeptical for the future. “The policeman who did this, what are we going to do with him? “, she asked.

Present alongside the family, Fo Niemi, director general of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, recalled that four cases of racial profiling in Repentigny had been recognized by the Human Rights Tribunal. The Police Department should be put under supervision, argued Pierre-Richard Thomas, coordinator of the organization Lakey Media.

For the president of the League of Blacks of Quebec, Max Stanley Bazin, the drama of Sunday is not a surprise. “When I got the call, I said to myself: 'Repentigny again,' he said. These are things that should not happen. »

Protests would be held soon, Fo Niemi said. "I'm going to be there," said Dolmine Laguerre. At the moment there are a lot of journalists, but in a few days the story will be dead. I would like us to move towards a certain justice. »

“It marks a distance”

Pierre-Richard Thomas pointed out that Repentigny had still not offered his condolences in the afternoon. "It marks a distance between city officials and the black population," he said.

During a press briefing later in the day, Helen Dion, director of the Repentigny Police Department, said she was “sensitive to the pain that the mother is going through”. The latter indicated that the mayor, Chantal Deschamps, should join her in communicating with Marie-Mireille Bence “as quickly as possible”.

Helen Dion said she understood that the situation could be “particularly trying for the black citizens of Repentigny”. She also expressed her support for the police. "None of us wake up in the morning wanting to draw a gun," she said.

The latter, however, recognized that racial profiling affects all institutions in Quebec and that it was necessary to continue raising awareness.