Key takeaways:
- The protest organizer says the community was terrified before the recent demises of two men; now, people are furious.
- People demonstrated outside Edmonton city hall Saturday for, what organizers named, the Rally for Safety in Chinatown.
- The rally comes after two males were lately murdered in the area.
A few hundred people mobilized outside city hall Saturday morning for more safety in Edmonton’s Chinatown neighborhood, where two men were later killed.
Edmonton police accused Justin Bone, 36, of two counts of second-degree killing for the deaths of Hung Trang, 64, and Ban Phuc Hoang, 61. Trang passed away after being attacked inside Albert’s Auto Body on 98th Street; Hoang was seen injured outside Universal Electronics & Video Inc., almost a block away on 97th Street, and died on the scene.
“Before these killings, everybody was scared. We are furious now,” said Wen Wang, executive director of Chinatown Business Improvement Area, which organized Saturday’s demonstration, dubbed Rally for Safety in Chinatown.
Chinatown, located around downtown, has been about for over a century. The area now has a reputation for having many homeless people, criminality, and drug use.
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Michael Lee, the vice-chair of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Edmonton, defined the problem as an “urban disaster.”
Many citizens and business owners are apprehensive about safety and security. Second, Lee explained that they’re anxious about the social factors at the root of the issues.
“The happening that occurred a few weeks back feels surprising for many of us, but I don’t want to say it was a shock,” Lee said. “It was kind of the straw that shattered the camel’s back.
“If we don’t do something, we will not crack the long-term issue afflicting many people around this district.”
Source – cbc.ca
