People are holding protests across Canada after a jury acquitted Raymond Cormier of second-degree murder in the death of Tina Fontaine. The 15-year-old girl's tragic death in 2014 gave renewed urgency to calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Tina, from Sagkeeng First Nation north of Winnipeg, was last seen alive on Aug. 8, 2014. Her body was pulled from the Red River on Aug. 17, wrapped in a blanket weighed down with rocks. She was seen with Cormier in her final days, and he was charged with second-degree murder in late 2015.
An 11-person jury found Cormier not guilty on Thursday following a three-week trial in which his defence team presented no evidence, according to CBC News.
In Winnipeg on Friday, hundreds took to the streets calling for justice for Tina Fontaine.
The line of supporters is stretching three blocks down York. #LoveForTina #cbcmb
Many are drawing links between Tina Fontaine's death and other cases involving Indigenous victims.
Raymond Cormier not guilty. Gerald Stanley not guilty. Fuck you, Canada. #JusticeForTinaFontaine #JusticeforColtenBoushie
Anger over the verdict has been compounded by the recent acquittal in Saskatchewan of Gerald Stanley, farmer who fatally shot Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man, during an altercation in 2016.
Many people are calling out the Canadian justice system for failing Indigenous peoples.
The police, the crown, the court system are all guilty of failing Tina Fontaine. This is unacceptable.
And calling for justice.
#JusticeForTina
"Cormier didn't even defend himself. Literally."
Cormier didn't even defend himself. Literally. His lawyer didn't call any witnesses or introduce any evidence. And… https://t.co/aXTo5bfjY8
The Crown's case rested largely on secret recordings of Cormier, in which he is heard discussing Tina's death. According to the Canadian Press, in one recording, Cormier told someone Tina was killed because he had had sex with her and then "I found out she was 15 years old." In another recording, Cormier said there was a little girl in a "grave someplace screaming at the top of her lungs for me to finish the job. And guess what? I finished the job."
First Nations leaders in Manitoba expressed their "extreme disappointment" in the jury's decision on Thursday.
"Our community has been saddened, outraged and devastated as we followed this trial and learned about Tina's young life," Arlen Dumas, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said in a statement. "With this decision, justice is denied yet again, and a family and our community mourns again."