A Vancouver law firm is offering legal services to British Columbians charged with anything related to a peaceful protest in relation to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Protests and demonstrations were held Friday and will continue through the weekend across the province in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd. In Victoria, the second Black Lives Matter rally will be held on Sunday at Centennial Square.
Kyla Lee, lawyer at Acumen Law, says the firm will offer free legal advice and representation for peaceful protesters who are are arrested and charged with crimes.
If you are arrested for peacefully protesting anywhere in BC today, please call me for free legal advice. Myself and @PaulDoroshenko will provide pro bono representation for any charges stemming from peaceful protesting, including bail hearings.
— Kyla Lee (@IRPlawyer) June 6, 2020
604-685-8889.
"There are a number of protests happening around British Columbia in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement. We've seen in the Unites States and Canada police brutality at these protests, particularly directed at people of colour, directed at journalists who are trying to cover the actions of police, and people need to be able to access legal advice quickly, and not have to worry that it's going to be cost prohibitive for them when they are engaging in important activism," she said.
Lee, who is Indigenous herself and has studied First Nations issues at UBC before becoming a lawyer, says we do have problems with race and police in Canada.
"It's not limited solely to Black people. All sorts of people of colour have been subjected to unfair treatment by police. In Canada we've not seen an overuse of police force when it comes to the protests, but since the protests have been happening in the US and in Canada, we've seen Indigenous people and people of colour treated differently at the hands of police."
Lee noted the case of Chantel Moore, a 26 year old Indigenous BC woman who ended up dead in New Brunswick following a wellness check by police on Thursday morning.
Canada's own Federal Indigenous Services Minister, Marc Miller, said Friday that Canada "needs a reckoning over a repeated and disgusting pattern of police violence against Indigenous people." He pointed out Moore's case as well as a video showing an R-C-M-P officer in Nunavut ramming the door of his car into a man walking along the road.
"These are the types of things that happen to people of colour in this country," said Lee.
For as long as the Black Lives Matter Protests are going on, Lee says Acumen is ready to take on any case for someone who was arrested or charged as a result of any peaceful protest actions in British Columbia.
"But if you're going to loot the Nordstroms we are not going to represent you for free," she noted.
Anyone looking to get legal advice or representation can call 1-604-685-8889 or visit www.vancouvercriminallaw.com