Black Lives Matter protesters chanting “No pride in police” crashed a Toronto Police news conference Friday, where Chief Mark Saunders unveiled a mural honouring the local LGBTQ community.

The mural, in the gay village near the corner of Church and Wood Sts., is meant to celebrate the history, diversity and strength of Toronto’s LGBTQ community, according to a police news release.

But the protesters claim the media event, like the Toronto police chief’s public apology this week for the 1981 bathhouse raids, was a publicity stunt.

They are “PR tools used to mask the reality of police relations amongst the queer and trans community: black people, indigenous people, sex workers et cetera,” said Black Lives Matter co-founder Rodney Diverlus, 26, after disrupting the unveiling.

The reverend and gay rights activist, Brent Hawkes, tried to mediate between Black Lives Matter and the police, to no avail, according to the queer activist and journalist, Andrea Houston, who live tweeted the encounter.

Black Lives Matter is still waiting for the police to meet the demands it made after its tent city protest outside police headquarters on College St. this spring, Diverlus added.

At the time, the protesters called for a face-to-face meeting with Saunders and an overhaul of the Special Investigations Unit, the civilian agency that investigates serious crimes allegedly committed by officers.

Const. David Hopkinson, a police spokesperson, said the chief’s apology for the raids and the new mural aren’t empty gestures.

“I believe the chief was heartfelt in his apology for the bathhouse raids. He was sincere in his words.”