Toronto Police Attempt to Disrupt Memorial for Regis Korchinski-Paquet

By a YCLer in Toronto (Dorise Nielsen Club)

On May 27, 2020, Toronto Police responded to 911 calls from Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a 29-year-old Black Indigenous woman, and her family; shortly after police arrived, she was killed, falling 24 storeys from the balcony. An SIU investigation cleared all officers of any wrongdoing. This is just one of a large number of police-involved deaths of Black and Indigenous people in Canada, often in response to wellness checks and crisis calls. One year later, the family of Regis Korchinski-Paquet has still not had closure or justice. 

On Monday, Toronto marked the first anniversary of the killing of Regis Korchinski-Paquet. Toronto-based group Not Another Black Life organized a memorial march for Korchinski-Paquet alongside her family, and organizers were joined by victims of police brutality and their allies. The memorial began in Queen’s Park with speeches, calls for the abolition, disarmament, and defunding of police, and cultural performances from Indigenous artists. Regis’ family called for the reopening of her case, noting that police were uncooperative in returning evidence, often claiming that they didn’t even have access to the evidence in the first place, including a cell phone that was reportedly active in the moments before her death. Soon after, a small but determined contingent marched peacefully from the Queen’s Park lawn towards Yonge-Dundas Square.

The crowd — only a few hundred strong — was met with a shockingly disproportionate number of police, who lined the streets and trailed the march on bicycles. After approaching Yonge and Gerrard, a sudden panic in the crowd revealed a new group of five or six police on horseback. Despite initial surprise and the shoving of several attendees by horses, marchers stood their ground and filmed the increasingly-hostile interactions.

It soon became clear that not only were police now joined by those on horseback, but they were also beginning to arrest organizers. After at least one arrest, attendees swiftly blocked the intersection, sitting down in order to prevent the police van from leaving. Following chants of “Free her now!”, “Let them go!”, and “I believe that we will win!”, the police finally relented and released the marchers. Although the memorial was now free of horses and police vans, it continued to be followed until it reached Yonge-Dundas Square. Toronto Police later took to Twitter to issue crude threats, stating that “just because someone is not issued a charge at the time does not mean that they cannot be laid at a later date”. 

Of the several much bigger solidarity protests that have been organized in Toronto over the past couple of weeks, including numerous protests in solidarity with Palestinians and Colombians, none have seen this extreme type of police presence (although police have certainly hindered these actions and shown up in large numbers). It should also be noted that the almost weekly far-right anti-mask demonstrations that plague Toronto’s downtown area are never met with threats, horses, and assaults — instead the Toronto Police happily close the streets and tweet that they are there to “ensure the safety of all involved”. So why is it that a peaceful and relatively small memorial march for a Black Indigenous woman killed by police is met with this type of response? It is clear that increased calls for defunding, disarmament, and abolition of police have left them feeling threatened, and when faced with a crowd of largely Black and Indigenous people they have no problem showing their true colours.

Despite the interruption, the memorial continued as planned. Korchinski-Paquet’s mother was set to speak to marchers, but was unable to due to being assaulted by police during the memorial. The march was followed by a cultural performance by Regis’ brother.