The day after a white Saskatchewan farmer was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2016 death of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Red Pheasant First Nation resident, thousands gathered across the country in solemn remembrance of the young man for whom they feel justice was not served.

The gatherings ranged from vigils to protests, pulled together under the banner “Justice for Colten Boushie.” Two took place in Saskatchewan, the province where Boushie lived and died, while others took place or were scheduled to take place on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Yellowknife, N.W.T., and as far away as Palm Beach, Fla.

The emotion was raw at a rally in North Battleford, Sask., Saturday as Boushie’s mother lashed out at the justice system and vowed First Nations people will “fight back.”

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“The justice system needs to stop locking up our youths. All of our loved ones are in jail. White people — they run the court system. Enough. We’re going to fight back,” said a visibly upset Debbie Baptiste. “They’re not sweeping us under the carpet. Enough killing our people. We fight back. Go to hell, Gerald Stanley. That’s where you belong.”

The defence in the Stanley case said his gun accidentally went off, killing Boushie with a single shot to the back of the head in a “freak accident.”

“That ain’t no freak accident,” said Baptiste. “Gerald Stanley is a freak accident.”

Hundreds gathered for a vigil at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto Saturday afternoon. Undeterred by blustery conditions, the diverse crowd carried signs reading “Justice for Colten.”

Others read “End Indigenous Genocide,” and “Newcomers to this land wake up! See the racism of this land. Do something!”

All wore grieved expressions, sometimes moving through the crowd to hug others.

Les Harper of Saddle Lake in Alberta, who introduced the various speakers, said “You may be angry, upset. You’re in the right place.”

More than a hundred people gathered on Parliament Hill Saturday to protest Gerald Stanley?s acquittal in the death of Colten Boushie. One protester says there needs to be a fundamental change in the way Indigenous people are viewed. (The Canadian Pre

An Indigenous elder, Harper, who was introduced as “grandmother,” spoke on the wounds that led to Saturday’s gathering, saying her heart has been broken so many times by the death of her brothers and sisters, that it is now resilient and strong.

“That man who shot and killed our brother, he’s got wounds, too,” she said. “I’m not letting him off the hook.”

A young Indigenous woman introduced as Eve said she loved the Indigenous community’s ability to come together when “one of us” is killed.

Representatives from Black Lives Matter Toronto also gave a speech in solidarity, and a man named Garrett Chad Smith spoke on male violence and the need for accountability — referencing his own experience with a criminal justice system he called “oxymoronic.”

Though the mood of the vigil was serious, there were also moments of joy as the crowd cheered to show support for the speakers.

The crowd formed a large semicircle around a banner on the ground that read “Murdered on stolen land. #ColtenBoushie,” while they listened and participated in an opening prayer, a song and speeches.

Stanley’s acquittal initiated an immediate, devastated response from Boushie’s family, and those standing with them in solidarity.

In North Battleford, Alvin Baptiste, Colten’s uncle, said it has been a difficult time for the family, but called the rallies a good start toward changing the system.

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“I want to take this all the way to Ottawa . . . right to Justin Trudeau,” he said. “Indigenous people have never received justice throughout Canada. This is white-privileged justice that has happened to my family. A whitewash.”

Baptiste said he had a meeting scheduled with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe in Saskatoon Saturday, but he also wants to sit down with Trudeau.

“The prime minister has spoken so many words, but has never heard our words,” he said.

The prime minister tweeted Friday night that he had spoken to federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould about the case.

“I can’t imagine the grief and sorrow the Boushie family is feeling tonight,” he wrote from Los Angeles. “Sending love to them from the U.S.”

The head of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said the Boushie family will be able to sit down with the justice minister in the near future.

“I’d like to speak to her privately. One-on-one and see what can be done”, said Alvin Baptiste.

“We were denied justice. We’re not going to stand and let this go away. It’s not going to go away.”

Meanwhile Indigenous communities across the country continue to feel pain stemming from the decision and resulted in other protests and vigils across the country.

The sound of people chanting a Cree honour song mixed with the noon bells of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and event organizer Lynne Courchene says that Stanley’s acquittal symbolizes systemic racism in the justice system.

Courchene said she wasn’t surprised by the decision, the makeup of the jury and the reported absence of anyone of Indigenous descent.

Eight-year-old Mariposa Horsley stood beside her mother and brother and held a sign that said, “Everybody matters.”

“I have a best friend who is Inuit. Her mother is actually a throat singer,” she said. “I thought it would be nice to come because I don’t think we should be against people just because of the colour of their skin. It’s not fair.”

The verdict has become a powerful example of continued injustice toward Indigenous people in Canada and set a bleak tone for attempts at reconciliation.

Erica Violet Lee, an Indigenous activist, tweeted Friday: “If Canada were to admit that Gerald Stanley — a white settler farmer — killing a young nehiyaw man is “murder,” they would have to admit their nation is founded on genocide. This is what colonialism is.”

Kara Louttit, a student and former Gladue writer in Thunder Bay and Ottawa completed “comprehensive reports that educate the courts about the intergenerational traumas and factors that have influenced an Indigenous person’s life.”

“I have had many clients who are young native men who were found guilty on second-degree (murder) charges or manslaughter charges with far less evidence,” than there was against Stanley, Louttit said, adding that some clients were sent away for 10 years or more without proof they were in possession of a weapon.

“So to have a white farmer, who clearly had a gun, clearly shot three times, and to use the defence of it being accidental,” Louttit said. “It’s such a travesty.”

Louttit said the disparate standards of justice for Indigenous people in Canada compared to white settlers makes reconciliation “meaningless.”

However, the wide array of gatherings for Boushie, Louttit said, “goes to show you that something of this nature is felt across all Indigenous nations within Turtle Island. Colten could have been our nephew, brother, son.”

With files from The Canadian Press