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The sounds of people chanting “black lives matter” echoed Friday evening through an area near City Hall as people gathered downtown to mourn the high-profile deaths this week of two black men in the United States.

An Edmonton-affiliate of Black Lives Matter organized the rally to protest the killings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. Both men were shot by police officers. Graphic videos captured in both instances caused an outcry and protests across North America.

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“We know segments of our society are disproportionately marginalized by institutional structures,” said Nav Kaur, a rally organizer.

More than 400 people on Facebook indicated they would attend the rally, which featured spoken word poetry, art, speeches and a vigil.

The crowd chanted “black lives matter” and “brown lives matter” before Edmonton-Centre NDP MLA David Shepherd took to a stage adorned with photos of the two men killed by police in the U.S. to talk about his experience growing up as a black man in Edmonton.