‘We will not rest until we are safe’: black t-shirt mourners conclude Toronto Pride after Bruce McArthur murders
A moment of silence took place at Toronto Pride on Sunday as the community paid tribute to the victims of alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.
Marchers, clad in black T-shirts that read “we will not rest until we’re safe”, took to the route at the busiest point of the march to show solidarity for the victims of McArthur.
Tensions are still rife between the community and the force.
One banner read: “Not gay as in happy, but queer as in fuck the police.”
The community has vented their frustrations with the slow pace of the investigation looking into the deaths of the LGBT+ victims McArthur is accused of killing, as well as their lack of communication with LGBT+ people prior to and during the enquiry.
“As recently as last December we were being told by Chief Saunders that our longstanding concerns about a serial killer preying on our community were not based on any evidence,” Douglas Elliott, a lawyer and community member said at a press conference.
“He was wrong.”
They decided to ban uniformed police from attending the event while an official investigation into the police’s mishandling of the missing person cases is concluded.
This is not the first time the Toronto police’s presence has been questioned at the march.
Black Lives Matter demanded that uniformed police leave the march in 2016 after they experienced troubles in 2016.
Mayor John Tory has launched an independent review of the police’s handling of missing persons cases in April.
“We are reminded today of a terrible tragedy that befelled this community and really the entire city and the whole country with the loss of the men. … I view Pride as a much bigger healing process,” Toronto Mayor John Tory told CTV News.
“We still have a lot of work do to make sure these things don’t happen.”
Bruce McArthur has been accused of the murder of seven men to date.
Several identified as gay men and were preyed on by the landscape gardener in the city’s gay district.
