Anti-racism rally organizer weighs in on police-involved shooting, saying man may have been shouting neo-Nazi comments
Posted Mar 22, 2015 1:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is continuing its investigation into an officer involved shooting that occurred Saturday afternoon.
Police say a suspect was causing a disturbance during the eighth annual anti-racism rally at City Hall. He allegedly yelled racial comments at the group and then fled the scene on foot as police officers approached.
Police went after the man and the situation escalated quickly, with the suspect being shot.
Jason Devine, the spokesperson for anti-racist acts in Calgary, said the shooting was unrelated to the rally itself, but that the man may have been shouting neo-Nazi comments.
“It’s sad that this turn of events kind of was like an added dimension to the whole thing,” Devine said. “I’ve seen some headings in different newspapers where they say ‘Police shoot man at peace rally’ which of course isn’t exactly what occurred.”
Devine added that the rally has seen backlash from neo-Nazi groups in the past, but he had not seen the shooting victim before.
“I’ve never seen him before. Other people I’ve talked to who observe neo-Nazi groups, they haven’t seen him,” Devine said. “Is this person an active member of the neo-Nazi movement, whether online or not, I don’t know. But he was sure acting like he was a neo-Nazi.”
He said rally goers are cooperating with the investigation.
