Paris and Toronto (continued)

Jamal Hemmings, the 17 year old father of a two-month-old baby was shot dead in Toronto on November 9. At his funeral, on November 18, gunmen shot and killed his best friend, Amon Beckles, the 18-year-old father of an 18-month-old daughter.

This is only the latest in a long series of shootings and murders in the city. Some people are blaming the government:

"We've made the point over and over about the rate at which our young men are dying but the response from the government shows they are not taking it seriously," says Sandra Carnegie-Douglas, president of the Jamaican-Canadian Association and a founder of the Coalition of African-Canadian Organizations.

"If these were young white men who were dying at that rate, we would have a national crisis on our hands. Look at the response to SARS, the way the city, the province and the federal government mobilized. We just have not seen this response to the fact we are losing our children."

But, Andrew King, the pastor of the church at which Jamal's funeral was held, had a different message.

Outside the auditorium, the pastor said even more: that it's time for people in the community to start offering information to the police providing the names of those responsible for the violence.

"We are the only ones that can stop this from happening. People know and people need to talk. I am convinced of that," he said.

"The biggest problem is people are not speaking. And if we start to stand up, you know what? The fear will be removed away. Because right now, people are living in fear: `Oh, I'm not going to say anything because I might be next.'"

It's well known in Toronto that the investigation of shootings has suffered from a lack of witnesses even when the killings have taken place in public view. Apparently, the witnesses are afraid of reprisals. Can the police protect them? I haven't seen any articles addressing this issue.

Back in August, Greg Morrow of Democratic Space surveyed the different lines of thought about the shooting spree.

Posted by MichaelK at November 20, 2005 12:59 PM | TrackBack