Protesters forced Police Chief Mark Saunders to postpone the unveiling of a mural in the gay village Friday afternoon.

The demonstrators were from the group Black Lives Matter. They have been critical of the chief’s recent comment that the police force regrets its raids on gay bathhouses more than 30 years ago.

They said in a tweet that police were using the comments to try to erase what the group calls the police department’s racism problem.

The chief left the ceremony after the protest began.

The mural at 425 Church St., part of the city’s StreetARToronto Program, represents the Toronto Police Service’s past, present and future relationship with the city’s LGBTQ2S communities

It took graffiti artist SPUD1 almost a year to finish and depicts Saunders’ apology to the community for the bathhouse raids.

“This mural is a spot of permanent reflection for the TPS and for the community,” Saunders said in a release.

“We will only be successful in our relationships of today if we acknowledge and learn from our past.”

For more information about the mural, click here.