Colten’s Boushie’s brothers hold a photo of him outside a court appearance of the man accused of killing him. Photo by Joel Willick.
It was an emotionally charged atmosphere outside North Battleford Provincial Court Thursday morning.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the courtroom to show their support for the family and friends of Colten Boushie. Many carried signs that read, “Justice for Colten,” and, “No life is ever worth material things.”
Earlier this month, the 22-year-old was shot and killed at a farm in central Saskatchewan. Gerald Stanley, the man accused of killing him, made a brief court appearance where his lawyer entered a not guilty plea for second degree murder.
The incident sparked a flood of many racist comments online with politicians and First Nation leaders calling for the comments to stop. Even the RCMP threatened criminal charges for the hateful comments.
Outside the courthouse, Colten’s friend, Edward Soonias, also called for an end to these comments.
“We all should be together as a community and we shouldn’t be fighting each other,” said Soonias.
Soonias, along with others, affectionately referred to Colten as “CoCo.” Many online comments since his passing have called him hard working and respectful. Soonias echoed those comments.
“He did things with dedication, he helped everybody in the community,” said Soonias. “He was a good guy, it’s unfair for this to happen.”
After the proceedings, the crowd joined together in a loud chant of, “Justice for Colten.” While the group had been peaceful, the entire morning a spokesperson for the Boushie family spoke to the crowd thanking them for being there and reminded them to continue the peaceful gathering.
“I want to really ensure that we are sending a message that this isn’t a rally of retaliation, but it is a rally of support and love for the incident that’s occurred,” said Sheldon Wuttunne, while speaking on behalf of the family.
Wuttunee also said the family will be relying on the legal system to provide justice.
“Although there is a lot of anger and grief, the legal system will do its part in terms of the RCMP investigation and the court process,” said Wuttunee. “We need to have confidence in that moving forward and hopefully justice will be served.”
Gerald Stanley is scheduled for a bail hearing on Thursday afternoon.
After the bail hearing, Stanley’s next court appearance will be in September.