

Chris Herhalt, CP24.com





A Black Lives Matter demonstrator who was part of a group of five who went to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's home last night to conduct a vigil said they meant the premier no harm by doing so.

Demonstrator Yusra Khogali said they went to Wynne’s home because she has not yet met with the movement, which has camped out outside Toronto Police Headquarters, to discuss their concerns.

“We decided to go to her house and give her an invitation (to speak with us) and also honour Andrew Loku as well and let her know that she’s accountable to us and she should be starting that conversation.”

A police source tells CP24’s Cam Woolley that police were called to Wynne’s north Toronto home this morning after several items were found on the front yard of her property.

The items found include flowers and a small tent, police said.

Officers from the local police division, Toronto Fire’s Hazardous Materials Unit, members of the premier’s OPP security detail and other law enforcement officers descended on the home, closing off a portion of the street including about 30 homes.

Police said they were canvassing residents door to door in the area and the local CRBNE (Chemical, Biological Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives) response team was en route to thoroughly check out the property.

Black Lives Matter Toronto issued a statement confirming their presence outside Wynne’s home, saying they left a wreath and a photo of Andrew Loku, the South Sudanese migrant who was shot dead Last July by a Toronto police officer.

“The decision makers to whom we have submitted our demands to, including Kathleen Wynne, continue to ignore the Black community and thousands of people who support us,” movement co-founder Sandy Hudson said in a news release. “So we have no choice but to bring our actions to them. Eleven straight days of protest and our Premier has said nothing. That is a shame. ”

Khogali said the police response to their actions and the media’s coverage of their actions was racist.

“The narrative coming out of it is very racist because we went there to give an invitation to Kathleen Wynne, there was nothing about what we were doing that was threatening in any possible way.”

A spokesperson in the Premier’s Office said in an email that they “are aware of the protest action by Black Lives Matter Toronto.”

“Minister Coteau who is responsible for the Anti-Racism Directorate is engaging with members of the group. Racism or discrimination of any kind is completely unacceptable anywhere in Ontario.”

The Black Lives Matter movement has been demonstrating with a long-term sit-in in the entryway to Toronto Police headquarters for the past 11 days. A demonstrator told CP24's Rena Heer that the group left a wreath for Andrew Loku, flowers and candles at Wynne's home and the gesture was not confrontational in nature.

They have demanded that all police officers who shoot and kill members of the public be named publicly, regardless of whether the special investigations unit finds the killing to be justified.

They’re also calling for the special investigations unit to be reformed and for apologies and compensation to be paid to the families of several black men who have been killed by GTA-area police services in the last several years.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Wynne said it "unnerved" her partner, Jane Rounthwaite, to wake to see a tent and other protest items left in their driveway.

“Having said that, I understand the concerns in the community,” Wynne said.

She said her government’s actions to curtail the police practice of carding and establish an anti-racism directorate demonstrate that she is serious about addressing issues about police and race in the province.

But she said her home is not the place to have a political discussion.

“I would like for the protests to happen in places other than my home. And you know quite frankly, it's not just about my home, it's about the neighbours as well," Wynne said. "It's about the people on the street who didn't choose to put their name on a ballot."

Toronto Mayor John Tory said the incursion onto Wynne’s private residence was “inappropriate” and “way over the top.”

“I just think there’s a degree of privacy and respect that we’re entitled to, notwithstanding that we’re in public life, and it goes way beyond what is reasonable to have people set up protests on other people’s lawns,” Tory said. “I don’t think they would like it if we did that to any of them.”

He added that he thought the move hurt the protest’s credibility.