Regan Russell was standing at the entrance when she was run over and killed. The truck stopped for a few sets of lights, and then he accelerated and drove into her.
LISA POLEWSKI: Animal rights advocates are condemning the charge laid by Halton Regional Police against a transport truck driver in connection with the death of a protester outside of a pork processing plant in Burlington, Ont., last month. Regan Russell, a longtime animal rights activist, was killed during a Toronto Pig Save demonstration outside of the Fearman’s Pork processing plant on June 19. The driver, a 28-year-old man from the area of North Perth, faces a charge of careless driving causing death.
Halton Regional Police say their investigation included interviews of several witnesses, a technical reconstruction of the collision outside of the plant at Harvester Road and Appleby Line, and a review of video footage. Investigators also say there are no grounds to indicate it was an intentional act. Witnesses have said the 65-year-old activist was trying to give water to pigs inside of a trailer entering the meat processing facility shortly before she was hit.
Anita Krajnc, co-founder of Toronto Pig Save, said the charge isn’t strong enough to address what happened to Russell. “We’re shaken by these weak, feeble charges on the part of the Halton police,” Krajnc told Global News. “They do not amount to justice.” The group is calling on Halton police to release the video footage of the incident, which Krajnc said shows the driver intentionally drove into Russell… Organizers with the Animal Save Movement will be holding a rally in front of Halton Regional Police headquarters in Oakville on Tuesday morning, urging police to reconsider the charges laid against the driver and release the video footage of the incident…
“He knew the drill. We’ve been doing vigils at Fearman’s in Burlington for nine years. Trucks stop slowly and stop at the entrance. And Regan Russell was standing at the entrance when she was run over and hit by the truck. He had been stalled at the lights about 100 feet away and stopped there for a few sets of lights, and then he accelerated and drove into her. So we feel that criminal charges should have been laid because there’s intent to harm”… The charges also come several days after the group launched a petition supporting Russell’s family in their call for a coroner’s inquest into her death…
“We know that Regan’s death is not something that happened as an isolated incident in and of itself,” said Shane Martinez, criminal lawyer for Toronto Pig Save. “There’s been numerous complaints in the past by people who were bearing witness at these vigils that they had almost been struck by transport trucks entering the facility. Complaints were made by members of the Animal Save movement to the company, and also to Halton Regional Police. “Unfortunately, it seems as though those complaints were not acted upon to the fullest extent that they could have been, and then we see what happened here to Regan”. SOURCE…
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