Calgarians: Black Lives Matter, protest in streets against racism

Hundreds of Calgarians took it to the streets to be one in crying that Black Lives Matter on Monday.

Marchers flocked downtown Calgary to condemn racism. This after the death of George Floyd, a black man, in the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota last week. He was 46. Floyd was unarmed when he was arrested and pinned to the ground by Derek Chauvin for more than eight minutes, despite the former saying that he couldn’t breathe as Chauvin pressed onto his neck and head.

Floyd’s death has sparked outrage from the masses, igniting several scattered protests across the United States of America, Canada, and other parts of the world.

Calgary Police Service (CPS) officers marched alongside the demonstration and issued a statement on social media after saying that they are “proud of the relationships” that it has built in the city but “we don’t for a moment believe we are perfect.”

“This world is big, but we know what is happening in the U.S. is being felt far beyond their borders. We are always one incident, one moment of broken trust, one tragedy away, from experiencing a shift in the foundation that we have built with those we serve. Every single interaction that an officer has with a citizen needs to be rooted in our values of respect, compassion, honesty, integrity, fairness, courage and accountability,” it said.

CPS also added that they must learn and do better as an “ever-evolving organization.”

Some have praised CPS for their statement, highlighting that they are good at the service they provide, also saying that they appreciate their presence in walking with the demonstrators. Meanwhile, others pointed out that the statement does not clearly condemn the racism and police brutality against Floyd.