Sunday, November 18, 2007

Upcoming rallies for Robert Dziekanski - show your support!

Yesterday about 500 people gathered at the international arrivals gate of the Vancouver International Airport, only meters from the place where Dziekanski died.

"We are not here to point fingers -- we all know what has happened," said organizer Martin Karcz. "I know many of you are angry. We failed to protect a person whose only crime was an inability to communicate.

"We hope the RCMP will never let this happen again."
Rallies in support of Robert Dziekanski and family have been organized (for next Saturday, November 24th, 2007) in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto. Here's an overview:

Update: For the most current information about the planned rallies for Robert Dziekanski, please visit the following website: Events in memory of Robert Dziekanski

The site also includes links to picture slight-shows and YouTube video clips of past events.



Vancouver: Protest against RCMP using excessive force on Robert!
Host: Facebook Group - "Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer Death"

Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Downtown Vancouver, Art Gallery (Georgia Street side)
City/Town: Vancouver, BC

Description:
A protest against the brutality shown in the video, which resulted in the death of new immigrant Robert Dziekanski, 40. Please express your interest by showing up next Saturday November 24th, downtown at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Georgia Street side. Rally will commence 12pm. Please try to wear the red/white colors of the deceased's Polish heritage, in his memory. Remember, this is about awareness of the tragedy and a protest against the excessive use of tasers, _NOT_ an anti-police rally. THIS WILL BE A PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION!

More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8636840125

VICTORIA: Solidarity and Justice for Robert Dziekanski.
Express your outrage and show supprt for his family through a peaceful demonstration

Host: Facebook Group - "Petition against RCMP officers involved in YVR Tazer Death"

Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
City/Town: Victoria, BC

Description: PEACEFUL DEMONSTRATION - come along and express your outrage and your disgust at the recent events resulting in the unlawful killing of Robert Dziekanski. Show Solidarity for the Dziekanski family and demand Justice so that this kind of thing NEVER happens again

More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6187158110

TORONTO: Defend Robert Dziekanski Toronto Queen's Park Protest Nov 24
Protesting Unreasonable Force/Showing Solidarity with Vancouver BC Protest Nov 24

Host: Facebook Group - "Protesting the use of Excessive force on Robert Dziekanski"

Date: Saturday, November 24, 2007
Time: 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Queen's Park
Street: University Avenue
City/Town: Toronto, ON

Description: This Protest is designed to continue raising media awareness about the mistreatment of Robert Dziekanski and protest the unreasonable use of force. We want the government to know that Canadians, regardless of their location in Canada are disgusted and heartbroken by the handling of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver Airport. This situation involves issues of race, nationalism, violence and most significantly ethical human behaviour of kindness, patience and compassion.

More info on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6407280731

Please show your support!

- All events in memory of Robert Dziekanski

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I ran into this forum
http://forums.blueline.ca/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=13581&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=150

and while it's somewhat understandable that the man's (previously) unstable behaviour and the stapler in his hand might have made the 4 RCMP a bit uneasy, it's still very unsettling to read (aspring?) law-enforcement/security people's reaction on this.

It's amazing how these people get so defensive in justifying the quick use of taser over a baton or pepperspray, ignoring the RCMP's blatant lie on the issue. Even more amazing is that in a 13-page long thread not one of these people, who are supposedly in the business to make world safer for the people, mentioned the RCMPs' failure to use the CPR or a defibrillator. Having read that forum's reaction, I'm very worried about the state of law-enforcement in Canada.

Erik said...

Thanks for posting the link.

That forum is probably a good indicator of the law-enforcement-culture that moves officers to behave like murderers and turn superiors into liars.

I WILL have to post on the culture at RCMP later today.

Thanks again, and don't forget to show up/invite people to participate in one of the rallies!

Anonymous said...

Everybody, please bring WHITE FLAG with you (bigger is better)

Anonymous said...

w sobota wez ze soba BIALA FLAG

Anonymous said...

Please keep this up to date regarding protests, as best you can.

I have posted your link on the Globe and Mail at:

http://abbink.blogspot.com/2007/11/upcoming-rallies-for-robert-dziekanski.html

7:47 AM comment on their site.

Anonymous said...

I am having some trouble here.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071120.wbctaser20/CommentStory/National/home

IS the link I am trying to properly paste.

I now have glue all over my fingers.

Editor, please feel free to tidy this mess up.

Erik said...

Thanks JC for posting my link at this Globe and Mail page.

I hope that glue came off :)

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to have come across your blog and have posted a link to this particular post. I used your link as part of a discussion at the Spokane, Washington blog HARD 7. We had the infamous Otto Zehm homicide at the hands of 7 Spokane Police in March 2006. http://www.spokesmanreview.com/sections/zehm/
As an interpreter/translator in Spanish, it is especially tragic to see that people at the scene were repeatedly saying that he spoke Russian and so even if the time and effort had been made to get an interpreter to the scene, it would not have helped, in fact it would probably have furthered Mr. Dziekanski's agitation.

On other situation which occurred here recently was the tasering of a suicidal man after 18 hours on a bridge. The police lied to him to get him off the bridge and then attacked him with a taser. The taser prob did not enter his skin and he got back up on the bridge and jumped to his death.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/tools/story_pf.asp?ID=202077

This is link to my blog. Thanks for your work on this critical issue.
http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com

Gareth Hynes said...

BAN TASERS! Too many people with health problems are likely to die when they aare tasered by the police. The police do not know if the individual has a heart problem, and apparently they don't care. Because after you stop breathing after been tasered by the police, they don't even try to do a recovery on you. It appears to me the taser has been produced as an equalizer since many police forces have recruited numerous petit individuals who do not have great physical stature or are not caoable to handle large men, so let's stand back and zap them. In the past, physical force would take care of the situation very quickly without the arrested person dying. We don't need tasers if you raise the hiring standards back where they used to be.

Unknown said...

Dziekanski lay dying after Taser hit as border agent scoured airport for him

OTTAWA — A border services officer who spoke a few words of Robert Dziekanski’s native tongue may have come within minutes of helping avert the Polish immigrant’s death, newly released documents show.

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/National/2008/03/30/5146666.html

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