After what happened in Montreal-North, it is to the City of Montreal that we must address our demand for justice!
Is Tremblay the police’s pet mayor or the mayor of all Montrealers?
Come and tell Mayor Tremblay and the elected representatives of the City of Montreal that WE WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE POLICE BRUTALITY!
Let’s remind the politicians who continue to claim “all is well” that what matters is not the fall but the landing!
You will never attain peace through repression!
Truth and Justice for Fredy Villanueva!

After what happened in Montreal-North, it is to the City of Montreal that we must address our demand for justice!
Is Tremblay the police’s pet mayor or the mayor of all Montrealers?

Come and tell Mayor Tremblay and the elected representatives of the City of Montreal that WE WILL NO LONGER TOLERATE POLICE BRUTALITY!

Monday November 24th, 2008, at 6pm
at Montreal City Hall (275 Notre-Dame east, Champs-de-mars metro)

When officer Jean-Loup Lapointe of station 39 of the Montreal police killed Fredy Villanueva and wounded two other youth as they were playing dice in Montreal-North, Mayor Gérard Tremblay had no comment. The next day, after a protest organized by Montreal-North residents and the ensuing riot, the Mayor was quick to react. Despite having declined to comment on Fredy’s death at the hands of a police officer, the morning after the riots he told media: “I will not put up with individuals committing these sorts of violent actions. I will not allow police officers to become victims of physical attacks.”

The Mayor of Montreal thus took the side of the police against the Montrealers he claims to represent. Tremblay clearly stated that he would allow police to shoot us without reason, but not any expression of anger or self-defense in response to social injustice. He is therefore undeserving of our trust.

For his part, borough mayor of Montreal-North Marcel Parent stated: “All is well in Montreal-North. There are no problems. I did not see this coming.” On August 20th, 2008, two hundred people answered the group Montréal-Nord Républik’s call and gathered in front of the municipal building to demand Parent’s resignation.

These politicians have made clear that they do not represent us, but rather the investors and landlords who they try to appease by denying the existence of social problems like racism, abuse of power and its impunity. We could ask for Mayor Tremblay’s resignation, but we know that we can no more trust the other politicians such as Benoît Labonté, who dreams of becoming Mayor and who currently uses the criminalisation of the homeless and the youth of downtown Montreal for political gain.

The only “solutions” politicians have come up with to deal with this crisis
involve sending more police into the neighbourhood (when they are clearly a huge part of the problem) and giving contributions to certain community groups with the intention of buying their silence, rather than addressing the social problems at the root of the unrest.

It isn’t right for mothers to have to worry that when their children leave the house they may not see them return due to a police killing. If those who are supposed to protect us hurt and kill us, we can only count on ourselves and the solidarity of our peers to ensure our safety. If those who claim to represent us defend those who hurt and kill us, we have no choice but to organize together to try to address the problems that affect us on a daily basis.

We will not tolerate the prosecution of the citizens of Montreal-North for their rebellion and we find it unacceptable that we are still waiting to hear whether charges will be laid against the police officers involved. We also denounce the campaign of fear that police effected in the neighbourhood after the legitimate revolt of August 10th, 2008.

Let’s remind the politicians who continue to claim “all is well” that what matters is not the fall but the landing!
You will never attain peace through repression!
Truth and Justice for Fredy Villanueva!

The Coalition against Police Repression and Abuse (CRAP)
coal...@hotmail.fr

We demand:
1) A public and independent inquiry into the death of Fredy Villanueva;
2) An end to racial profiling, abusive practices and the impunity of police;
3) The acknowledgement of the principle that so long as there is economic inequality there will be social insecurity.