Three Years Later
Montreal North Protests for Justice in Villanueva Case
Three years since police shot unarmed teenager Fredy Villanueva, his death still resonates in Montreal North, where over 100 people gathered for a memorial rally and march on August 7.
“It’s important that people don’t forget how Fredy was killed,” said Alexandre Popovic, a member of the activist group Coalition contre la répression et les abus policiers. “It was not a case of legitimate defence as the police pretended.”
Led by a marching band and a pickup truck outfitted with a microphone and speakers, the crowd wound through Montreal North before stopping in front of a police station. There, following a speech by Patrice Dauphin of the Saint-Michel Forum and 40 seconds of silence, a brief concert took place, as rappers climbed on to the truck’s bed to sing songs about Villanueva and justice in the St. Michel neighbourhood.
Dauphin ended his address with a plea to the police to change their relationship with the people living in Montreal North. Two studies conducted in 2010 indicated that the police engage in racial profiling in the area.
“It’s important for us to understand that we can’t keep on like this,” said Dauphin afterwards. “We can’t have a society like this where you have so much corruption and injustice. It’s important for us to bring our strength together to grow a better society.”
The march had a surprisingly festive atmosphere as there was music throughout, which Dauphin said was an indication that the attendees were there for peaceful change.
“We don’t want to do anything violent,” he said. “We’re regular people that want to do something right. The music is to make things more relaxed, to show everybody that we don’t want to fight with the police, but pass a message.”
“We don’t want to do anything violent,” he said. “We’re regular people that want to do something right. The music is to make things more relaxed, to show everybody that we don’t want to fight with the police, but pass a message.”
Villanueva was killed in 2008 after an altercation with Constable Jean-Loup Lapointe. Lapointe approached a group of teens playing dice in a parking lot and allegedly opened fire because he feared being disarmed. Villanueva’s death resulted in riots in the area, with residents saying he was murdered, and Fredy’s mother Lilliane Madrid Villanueva said later that she did not believe he would be dead if he was a white French-Canadian.
Fredy’s brother Dany also faces deportation to Honduras for a firearms conviction that dates back to 2006. “We’ve been saying from day one that Dany Villanueva would not face deportation proceedings if the police had not killed his brother in 2008,” said Popovic.
Villanueva was denied asylum in Canada under humanitarian grounds last week by an immigration tribunal, though his lawyer promised he would be appealing the decision.
