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DEATH OF A BLACK MAN UNDER POLICE BULLET: CRARR CALLS FOR CALM AND A TRULY INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION



Montreal, April 5, 2016 — Following yesterday's official confirmation that Mr. Jean-Pierre Bony has died from injuries caused by a plastic bullet that a Montreal Police officer shot into his head last week in Montreal-North, CRARR calls on the authorities and residents of the municipality who lived through the Fredy Villanueva tragedy to remain calm.

“A Black man was shot to death by a Montreal police officer, apparently while he was running away. It sounds like Anthony Griffin again. This time, there must be an investigation that is publicly perceived as independent and that actually is independent, something that’s not possible with an investigation mandate given to the SQ,” noted CRARR’s Executive Director Fo Niemi.

Anthony Griffin was a young Black man who was shot to death by a police officer in 1987, in NDG (a district of Montreal) when he was running from a police vehicle in which he was placed under arrest.

CRARR urges the Quebec Government to ensure that the Bureau of Independent Investigations, headed by Madeleine Giauque, is fully operational before the May 2016 deadline, and to transfer the Bony investigation to the Bureau as soon as it is operational.

“The population does not want to see another bungled police investigation like the one that took place after a police officer fatally shot Fredy Villanueva and shot his friends. Montrealers expect answers to questions about last week’s police shooting and they also expect concrete actions to prevent police bullets from cutting down more racialized people in suspicious circumstances,” added M. Niemi.

In 2008, CRARR was among the first groups to call for a public inquiry into the death of Fredy Villanueva.

CRARR also calls on the Montreal Police Service to renew its Strategic Plan of Action against racial and social profiling (2012-2014) and to publicly reaffirm its commitments on these issues.

Finally, authorities have to ensure that Mr. Bony’s family receive all the necessary support to live through this ordeal.