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| Sister and friend |
Members of the family of Sammy Yatim conducted themselves in a dignified way at the street protest outside police headquarters on College Street today. The 18-year-old boy’s mother and his 16-year-old sister were invited into the building and had a private meeting with Chief William Blair who they described as sincere. At the same time CP24’s George Lagogianes was able to identify many faces from the Occupy movement in full fury at the Yatim demonstration. Some groups carried doubtful signs. “Give us the resources and we will defend our communities,” said one improbable placard. Sammy Yatim’s death by police gunfire has outraged many people and at the least left others bewildered by what was in the mind of the police officers involved. Yatim’s sister and her friends wore shirts inscribed with the exclamation “9 Shots….?” and indeed the number of shots fired is among the most disturbing facts of the case. The Special Investigations Unit is preparing a report on the shooting. The Ontario Federation of Labour also called a news conference during the day. It turned out to be more of an opportunity for those who have lost relatives in police shootings to ventilate. There was a demand for policy that would stop all deaths. Sadly that may be a rare hope. Police may need better training, but there would seem to be no “policy” clever enough to create accurate, instant strategies for confrontations yet to be realized.
