Protests erupt and prime minister weighs in following anger over the acquittal of Gerald Stanley for shooting Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan

messoamerica:

An acquittal in the shooting death of a young Indigenous man by a white farmer in Saskatchewan has left First Nations stunned and outraged, with protesters taking to the streets across Canada against what’s being seen a symbol of a racist and severely broken criminal justice system.

After deliberating for 13 hours, an all-white jury in Battleford, Saskatchewan found 56-year-old Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Colten Boushie of the Red Pheasant First Nation.

Cries of despair filled the courtroom and family members burst into tears as the verdict was announced Friday night. “You’re a murderer. You murdered my son,” said Colten’s mother, Debbie Baptiste.

News of the acquittal left Boushie’s uncle Alvin Baptiste “shocked,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.

“My nephew has been denied justice,” said Baptiste. “A white jury came out with a verdict of not guilty of Gerald Stanley, who shot and killed my nephew. This is how they treat us First Nations people, and it’s not right. Something has to be done about this.”

“We hoped for justice for Colten,” said Boushie’s cousin Jade Tootoosis. “However, we did not see it. We did not feel it throughout this entire process. We will fight for an appeal, and answers to all the racism that my family has experienced from the day that Colten was shot until the jury delivered the verdict of not guilty. We will not stop our pursuit of justice.”