LONGUEUIL — Zara Adel expressed her disbelief upon learning that police had fatally shot 15-year-old Nooran Rezayi in Montreal's South Shore. As an 11-year-old Afghan girl herself, the news resonated deeply with her.
"I came here to pay respects to the family," Adel stated on Sunday, accompanied by her aunt and younger brother, while attending a protest in Longueuil, Quebec, held in honor of Rezayi. The tragic incident occurred last Sunday when police shot Rezayi while responding to a 911 call regarding a group of youths in a residential area whom they deemed to be armed.
Adel believes that the officer responsible for the shooting should face serious consequences. "What if it happened to your brother, your family? It’s not fair," she lamented.
The independent police watchdog of Quebec, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, indicated that a baseball bat was found after the fatal incident. Notably, the sole firearm seized belonged to the officer who shot the teenager, and additional items recovered included a backpack and ski masks.
Following the shooting, the local police force confirmed that the involved officer has been placed on indefinite sick leave. Protesters returned for a second demonstration on Sunday after a vigil had been held the previous day in the same area to honor Rezayi.
The protesters marched to the police station, where they encountered a line of officers in riot gear. Many participants voiced their demands for police officers to be equipped with body cameras. Rally organizer Francisco Fabian Castro stated, "Body cams will assure that what the police say is true and factual."
While Castro does not personally know Rezayi’s family and has refrained from contacting them to allow them privacy during their mourning, he felt compelled to organize the protest to demand justice for the young boy. He highlighted what he sees as systemic racism within the local police force, asserting that authorities like Quebec's police watchdog have failed to address these issues effectively.
“I’ve seen racism with my own eyes, especially at night,” Castro shared, adding that his Black friends are frequently stopped by officers under suspicious pretenses. "We’re tired of that systemic racism and being treated like second-class citizens," he emphasized, identifying himself as an immigrant.
Marie-Claude Tremblay, another protester, questioned the decision to draw a weapon in a situation that seemingly presented no immediate threat to officers. "The police said they are defending us, but that’s not true," she remarked.
According to reports from the police service, no arrests were made during the protest. These events have intensified calls for accountability and reforms within the police force.
This report outlines the deep community concerns following Nooran Rezayi’s tragic death, highlighting issues of police conduct and the call for systemic changes in law enforcement practices.
