For Immediate Release
(xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, BC – Ten years after the death of his 22-year old son, father Al Wright is speaking out ongoing police violence in the province and across the country.
Al Wright is the father of Alvin Wright, shot and tragically killed by the Langley RCMP on August 7, 2010. According to Al Wright, “Watching all the news about police violence in Canada and the US has made me so upset. With the ten-year anniversary of my son’s death coming up, I am angered and horrified that police killings are still rampant and nothing is being done about it. Nothing has changed.”
Continues Wright, “Ten years ago, the RCMP killed my son. The RCMP entered my son Alvin’s house, went upstairs to his bedroom for a wellness check, failed to announce themselves, confronted him with guns drawn, and killed him. I have been seeking justice for my son for ten years, and now so many more families are enduring the same pain and anguish my family and I have suffered. When I heard about what happened to Chantel Moore and how the police killed her during a wellness check, I instantly thought of my son. I feel so much for her family, and the families of everyone who has died at the hands of police.”
“British Columbia has the highest number of police deaths per capita in Canada. The police operate with impunity; they get away with crimes without being charged in ways no civilians ever would; and they basically still investigate themselves. Fifty percent of IIO investigators are former police officers. I just do not understand how this is being allowed to continue,” further says Al Wright.
The BC Civil Liberties Association has worked with Al Wright and other families of police violence for several decades. According to Harsha Walia, Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association, “How many more families need to pour out their pain or endure tragedies for immediate action to be taken on the crisis of policing in this country? There is rising public momentum calling for immediate action from all levels of government to end the harms of policing, especially as it affects Indigenous and Black communities and people in mental health distress. This means no more band-aid solutions, no more studies, and no more funds poured into an unjust system. Family members, such as Mr. Wright, deserve meaningful accountability and an end to the harms of policing.”
