A Kingston protest against racism and police brutality has hit a few roadblocks over the last week, but organizers feel those issues have been ironed out in preparation for the event, slated for Saturday at noon.
The main point of contention for the protest was local police involvement.
The protest was originally organized by young Kingstonians Casey Heffernan, Hawani Brooks and Josh and Camisha Ukwesa in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in Minneapolis, Minn.
Heffernan, the only white member of the group, seemed to take the lead in organizing the event, which was originally planned as a march starting at the Leon’s Centre on Friday.
Many in the Facebook group created for the protest began to criticize Heffernan’s planning efforts, mainly for lack of information on whether there would be any people of colour speaking and how safety concerns were going to be addressed during the march.
In response, Heffernan apologized to the group, changed the protest’s time and location — to noon on Saturday at Confederation Park — and said that he had personally spoken to Kingston police about safety.
Heffernan then noted that Kingston police asked if they could attend the protest and potentially speak.
“I graciously accepted this offer as we are all stronger standing together than we are alone,” Heffernan wrote on his post.
Many in the group became incensed that a protest against police brutality would host the police themselves.
“Please think twice before participating in this event that will invite police to speak at a ‘protest’ that is only happening because of them,” a commenter Michael David wrote in the protest Facebook group.
Another commenter, Trinda Lee, told Heffernan he should not have chosen to have Kingston police come to the rally without consulting members of the Black community.
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In response, a group called Katarokwi Solidarity then organized a second protest at the same time and place as the one planned by Heffernan, and named it “No police at our protests!”
Katarokwi Solidarity declined to comment for the story, but their Facebook group said they created their protest to allow those uncomfortable with police, including Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC), to attend.
“Many BIPOC folks and allies have chosen not to attend because of this, which is understandable. However, we still think it’s important for us to show up and prevent the police from using this event as a publicity stunt,” Katarokwi Solidarity wrote on their Facebook event page.
The Black Luck Collective, which held a widely-attended Black Lives Matter vigil in Kingston on Tuesday, distanced themselves from Saturday’s protest as well, saying they would not be attending and calling the organization of the event “troubling.”
But on Thursday, a man named Constantin Mugenga became involved in the organization of the original demonstration and helped address certain concerns.
On Friday, Mugenga said he spoke with police, who will now no longer be attending the event.
In fact, Kingston police say they never asked to be part of the event in the first place.
Staff Sgt. Steve Koopman said that there was a miscommunication between the police and Heffernan, the latter of whom implied that police wanted to be formally part of the protest.
“This was not the case. We had reached out more in regards to having a dialog between the organizers and ourselves to come to the best understanding in regards to a public safety factor,” Koopman told Global News.
Koopman added that he believes it’s the right decision not to have Kingston police attend the protest, but that police will still have to monitor traffic and ensure demonstrations are peaceful on Saturday.
“We don’t want to take away from the voices of those that want to be heard this weekend. At the same time, we have a duty to ensure that everything goes forward as peacefully as possible and that we’re protecting not only those that are attending, but the general population,” Koopman said.
Although Mugenga did not want to be interviewed, he sent Global News a lengthy written statement, saying he joined Heffernan’s protest movement because he thought the intentions were in the right place.
“We are all supporting same cause and conveying same massage,” Mugenga wrote.
“As an Afro-Canadian, I believe that Black community members, Indigenous people and persons of colour in Canada, Ontario and Kingston have been hurt in many different ways.” He said those ways include racism and discrimination as well as being victims of law enforcement and police in general.
“What Happened in the USA, was a tipping point for everyone — especially the Black community — to say enough is enough,” Mugenga wrote.
David, one of the most vocal critics of Heffernan on the Facebook event page, told Global News on Friday that he was still conflicted about whether to attend the demonstration.
“There are several BIPOC from within the Kingston community that have made it clear that they are not comfortable attending, despite the fact that the police will no longer be attending,” David said.
Nishnabe Nish said they too would not be attending. Nish had issues of being blocked in the group after posting criticisms of the organization of the event, issues others had complained about as well.
“I am in solidarity with Black Luck Collective and not backing or endorsing this march,” Nish said.
Organizers assured that it was Facebook who blocked commenters, and not themselves.
Heffernan and others in the group apologized for any miscommunications and extended their wishes that all those who wanted to attend originally would do so.
“If there’s anything that we can do in order to help support and change your mind to attending our peaceful protest, we would be more than willing to listen and adapt our plans,” Heffernan said in an interview on Friday.
Brooks, one of Heffernan’s friends and an original organizer of the event, said he saw value in hosting the demonstration because he too had been a victim of racism.
“I was really for it because I’ve been ostracized and racially profiled,” Brooks said.
“I just thought the movement was good and that we could all come together as a people, minorities, people who are better off than others and all collectively go towards a better cause.”
The second protest, organized by Katarokwi Solidarity also released an update on their Facebook page Friday, saying they will still be holding their separate protest, but it now will be held in conjunction with the original demonstration, just across the street.
“Please join us at an anti-police contingent in support of the larger demonstration. We’ll be meeting in front of the steps of City Hall, directly across the street from Confederation Park,” Katarawki Solidarity said Friday.
Both events are set to take place at noon on Saturday, and according to Facebook, are meant to draw nearly 2,000 people together.
Event organizers are asking protesters to try to abide by social distancing regulations.
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