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The back drop to all this was the May 25th killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, who asphyxiated under the knee of a white police officer who was arresting Floyd for allegedly using counterfeit money. Floyds graphic death, captured on cellphone video by bystanders, shocked the U.S. and the world.

From Washington to Los Angeles, protesters by the tens of thousands marched nightly, symbolically going down on one knee in a compelling reminder of George Floyds fate. The rallies spread to cities in Europe and Canada, including Ottawa where on June 9 thousands marched in a protest six blocks long that snaked though the streets from Parliament Hill to Confederation Park.

There is no middle ground here, Rev. Anthony Bailey, the pastor of Parkdale United Church, told the crowd. You are either a racist or an anti-racist.

Among the estimated 9,000 demonstrators was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who joined the crowd in taking a knee. Trudeau did not speak at the rally, but told reporters the next day that he felt he needed to be there.

To look out the windows of my office and see thousand upon thousands of young people, of Canadians of all ages stand in solidarity, wanting to see change happen, I felt it was important for me to be part of that, Trudeau said.

The BLM march coincided with Mayor Jim Watson appointing Rawlson King, Ottawas first Black councillor, to head the citys Anti-Racism Secretariat, a body that King had first proposed to council in 2019.

Excerpt from:
Newsmakers 2020: Abdirahman Abdi and the year of Black Lives Matter - Ottawa Citizen