The Allen Expressway has reopened after it was shut down earlier on Monday night by a group of protestors who were demanding justice for black community members killed by police.
The "Black Lives Matter” activists blocked traffic both north and south on the Allen at Eglinton Avenue for more than an hour on Monday evening.
The protest's Facebook page says the rally is for "all Black folks in this city who have been unjustly carded, surveyed, assaulted or murdered by police."
In particular, the group is focused on the deaths of Andrew Loku and Jermaine Carby.
Loku, 45, was fatally shot by police after they responded to calls about a man wielding a hammer at an apartment building on Gilbert Avenue, near the intersection of Eglinton West and Caledonia Road.
Carby died in hospital after being shot during a police traffic stop in the Queen Street East and Kennedy Road area in September 2014. The SIU later said they would not charge the Peel police officer who shot Carby.
The group says they have also delivered a list of demands to Mayor John Tory and Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders related to the incidents:
- The names of the officers who fatally shot Andrew Loku and Jermaine Carby
- Charges to be laid against those officers
- Confirmation that the officers are off the streets
- The immediate and public release of any video footage from the apartment complex where Loku was shot and killed
- A date, no longer than four weeks, confirming when the SIU will conclude an initial investigation.
- Monetary compensation for the families of Loku and Carby
