Officers were alleged to have made racist remarks and, according to allegations reported by La Presse and Radio-Canada, some collected pieces of locs to keep as trophies from\u00a0people they apprehended.<\/p>\n
Early Monday evening, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Station 39, home to the patrol group in question. The station was barricaded with orange tape and police officers, seemingly to prevent the group from getting too close.<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0616-city-39-protest.jpg\")
Police watch demonstrators passing by Station 39 during a protest against police racism in Montreal North on Monday, June 15, 2026. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Families danced and cheered from their balconies while protestors walked by chanting, \u201cpolice everywhere, justice nowhere,\u201d through the streets of one of Montreal\u2019s most racialized neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
One protestor said it was beautiful to see people unite on a subject that hits home, but for him, it doesn\u2019t inspire hope that anything will change.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Seventeen) years ago, Fredy Villanueva was killed by SPVM. A year ago, a young boy \u2014 not even a young man, a young boy \u2014 was killed in Longueuil,\u201d said Julian Grau-Brown, a social worker pursuing a PhD at McGill University on police brutality. The young boy he was referring to is Nooran Rezayi, a 15-year-old fatally shot by Longueuil police<\/a> in September 2025. <\/p>\n For Grau-Brown, he was \u201cabsolutely not\u201d surprised when the news broke on Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cFor people that are shocked, I hope this is a wake-up call that systemic racism does exist here. And not only the Black communities, the Arab communities, but all minority communities here in Montreal.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my job, if I were to ever rip off \u2014 not cut, rip off \u2014 another person\u2019s loc, I wouldn\u2019t be suspended with pay \u2013 I\u2019d be fired.\u201d<\/p>\n Grau-Brown, who himself has dreadlocks, says he gets stopped by police frequently, sometimes several times a night. Two years ago, he says a police car followed him on a 40-minute drive from Brossard to Saint-Leonard.<\/p>\n \u201cThen a police officer stopped me because I was driving my mom\u2019s car and said, \u2018Why are you driving your mom\u2019s car?\u2019 It wasn\u2019t a random reason. It\u2019s because I have dreadlocks. It\u2019s because of who I am and who I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Not enough progress<\/p>\n Community leaders say that although there\u2019s been some improvement with police racial profiling in Montreal, leaders must stop merely talking about it and start implementing real changes.<\/p>\n Joel DeBellefeuille of the Red Coalition, an advocacy group that fights racial profiling, told reporters Monday afternoon the main difference between this scandal and other instances of police racial profiling is that they were \u201ccaught with their hand in the cookie jar.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe felt that things had started to improve a little bit, but this brought everybody that\u2019s involved with fighting racism (and) discrimination back three, four, or five years. It\u2019s actually quite sad.\u201d<\/p>\n In order to make true progress on systemic racism among the police force, victims of racial profiling and police violence must be empowered to speak out about their experience, according to Mohamed Mimoun, coordinator of the youth community organization Forum Jeunesse de Saint-Michel.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, it\u2019s police officers who have reported on other police officers. That\u2019s a good thing. But my young people always ask me, \u2018What do we do with our testimonies, our voices, which are often heard behind closed doors?\u2019\u201d Mimoun told reporters at a Monday afternoon press conference.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, the young person will do everything possible to avoid the police because they fear this kind of situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Also on Monday, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada told reporters that she wants an independent investigation<\/a> into the alleged racist conduct, separate from the investigation currently underway by the SPVM. <\/p>\n \u201cAlthough the investigation is ongoing, we will ensure that there is an independent investigative process,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cWe will ensure that we ask all the necessary questions to ensure that the full truth comes out\u200a \u2014 \u200aand also to ensure there are no other situations we are unaware of.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Female](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0616-city-39-protest-1.jpg\")
Protesters against police racism walk through the streets of Montreal North on Monday, June 15, 2026. John Mahoney \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781583797_879_afc8eeddfc3824e65d0c2785c93ad2ebbc8e84979d44b17d00382f94b044539f.png\")
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