Hundreds of citizens gathered at François-Perrault Park in the Saint-Michel sector on Saturday. Where 16-year-old Thomas Trudel met with his friends last Sunday, before being shot and killed on his way home.
Teenagers were holding hands, looking straight ahead. Some were clutching a bouquet of flowers, and others a white balloon.
The group walked to the corner of rue Villeray and 20e Avenue, where Thomas was shot, to pay him a last tribute.
“I have no words,” said Marc Tomaszwwski, who was the deceased’s French teacher last year, at Joseph-François-Perrault high school.
“It’s just terrible. The atmosphere this week at school was to die for with a knife, ”continues his colleague, Simon Cliche, with tears in his eyes. “We don’t understand what’s going on. It’s difficult to comfort the children when you don’t have an explanation, that it’s free, ”added Mr. Cliche, who lives in the neighborhood with his children.
The rally, organized by the Saint-Michel Youth Forum, was intended to show the community’s support for Thomas’s family.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Julie Bussières, her husband and her two daughters live on the same street where Thomas’s parents reside. “Here, it’s a really tightly woven neighborhood,” she said straight away, describing the teenager’s death as “infinitely sad”. “It calls into question our choice to come and live in the city, to come and live in Saint-Michel,” she said.
Thomas Trudel was shot in his upper body as he walked home, after meeting friends at the park. He was killed following a verbal exchange with an individual.
This is the 31e murder to have occurred in Montreal this year. Less than a month earlier, a 16 year old teenager, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, was assassinated in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges – Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. In February, Meriem Boundaoui, 15, was shot dead in the Saint-Léonard area.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Nazim Chakor, a student at the school Thomas attended, addressed elected officials who took part in the rally. The lieutenant of Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez, the leader of the Liberal Party, Dominique Anglade and the minister responsible for the Metropolis and the region of Montreal, Chantal Rouleau, were notably present.
“The day after his death, something was wrong with Joseph-François-Perrault. You could see the teachers, management and students crying, or on the verge of tears. It wasn’t like before, it’s like the school has lost its soul, ”said Nazim.
Patricia Clermont, a mother involved in the high school governing board, called on the various levels of government to act as quickly as possible to curb the outbreak of violence raging in the streets of the metropolis.
“I expect the municipal government to exercise strong leadership, in particular by calling, as of this emergency week, meetings with their provincial and federal partners,” implored Mr.me Clermont.
The mayoress of Saint-Michel, Laurence Lavigne Lalonde, has promised that she will respond to Patricia Clermont’s request. “The messages are clear. Community groups, citizens, young people know the solutions. […] We want the federal government to attack our borders so that there are no more weapons entering here, ”she declared, eliciting applause from the crowd.
Pablo Rodriguez was instead booed following his speech, which offered his support to the community of Saint-Michel. “We want action,” exclaimed the citizens.
François Legault criticized
The premier of Quebec posted a message on his Facebook page, where he said he was thinking of Thomas and Meriem, without mentioning Jannai, thus attracting the anger of several Internet users.
“Did you know that this is not the only young 16 year old who recently died by gunshot [?] My sympathies to all the bereaved families, regardless of their district of origin and the color of their skin… ”, reacted an Internet user. “Could you also go to the district of Côte-des-Neiges where a young man of color 16 also died stabbed following a violent attack [?] », Commented another, under the publication of the Prime Minister.
At Jannai Dopwell-Bailey’s funeral on Friday, his family lamented that a “double standard” is being seen regarding the reaction of politicians to the deaths of Jannai and Thomas, due to their skin color. François Legault was again the subject of criticism on this subject on Saturday.
The mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, and François Legault went to meditate on the place where Thomas was assassinated, which they did not do in the case of Jannai. The mayor was also reportedly invited to attend the vigil in tribute to Jannai, where she did not go.