Shane Martinez, a lawyer for Toronto Pig Save, said: 'We believe there is a video in possession of the police that captured the entire incident. We haven't had a chance to see it.'
SAMANTHA CRAGGS: The family of Regan Russell is calling for a coroner’s inquest after she was killed outside a Burlington slaughterhouse last month. Russell, a Hamilton animal rights activist, was giving water to pigs crammed into a transport truck trailer headed into Fearman’s Pork Inc. on June 19. Toronto Pig Save video taken moments before her death shows her standing at the corner, waiting to give water to the pigs… Russell, 65, was a long-time animal rights activist who spoke on the subject at local schools. She was a regular participant of the vigils at Fearman’s…
Shane Martinez, a lawyer for Toronto Pig Save, says an inquest would give a full picture of what happened to Russell, and also aim to keep people safe at future protests. “There are a lot of questions still out there,” he said. “We believe there was video that captured the entire incident. We haven’t had a chance to see that video yet. We believe it’s in the possession of the police”, The activists, he said, “were exercising their charter rights.” He wants to know if appropriate action was taken to prevent an incident like the one that killed Russell, and “what led up to it in the months and years of these vigils taking place… “It certainly helps the family in our grief,” said Russell’s husband, Mark Powell.
The goal of a coroner’s inquest, says stepson Josh Powell, is “to make sure public is fully aware” of what happened to Russell, and so “a public jury can then make recommendations to prevent such an incident from happening again”… The call comes on the same day the Toronto Pig Save group held a Justice for Regan rally in downtown Toronto. The group marched from Front Street to Queen’s Park. Rally participants protested the so-called “ag-gag” Bill 156, which creates “animal protection zones” that prohibits animal rights activists from “interfering or interacting with the farm animals in the motor vehicle.” The bill also increases fines for anyone caught trespassing on farms or food processing plants, and effectively prevents surreptitious recordings. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: