“I was proud of it,” said Mayor Pierre Leroux, who took part in the march.

The June 5 event was organized through the people responsible for setting up the Love Russell Ontario Facebook page. Mayor Leroux estimated that at least 100 or more people took part in the peaceful protest.

The event was organized to show support for all the protest marches and other events taking place in the United States, sparked by the May 25 murder of George Floyd of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a 46-year-old black man who was handcuffed by police and forced to lie face down in the street. A white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck for about nine minutes. Floyd died of suffocation, and Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police officers now face charges.

The June 5 demonstration in Russell saw participants gather outside of the Russell Arena, then march along Concession Street along a route that ended back at the arena.

More photos and information on the event are at the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pg/loverussellon/events/?ref=page_internal.