Justice for Eishia: A message and call to action on ending police brutality towards Indigenous youth

On Thursday, January 28, 2021, the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) of Manitoba recommended that no charges be filed in the murder of 16-year-old Eishia Hudson.

UWSA President, Shawna Péloquin says, “This is a clear message to Indigenous people in Winnipeg and beyond from the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS), which is that there is no transparency or empathy when an Indigenous life is taken as a result of police intervention. The show of force demonstrates that as Indigenous people in this city, our life is not a guarantee but is subject to police approval. It a reminder for all the Indigenous student in this institution and myself that we are surviving a genocide in action, and that our Indigenous youths and elders are disproportionally targeted.  The opportunity to attend University was stolen from Eishia Hudson, yet the WPS continues to defend that the officer who was armed and trained to serve and make him a victim in this tragedy somehow. Why should this police officer be given another chance to open fire at an Indigenous youth? This is not a tragedy of police intervention. It a recurring pattern of power and violence imposed upon Indigenous families and communities empowered by the colonial nature of police services.”

The University of Winnipeg Student Association stands in solidarity with the Hudson Family, our Indigenous students and Indigenous youth. We support Hudson’s parents’ call for an inquiry, which would be broader in scope than the inquest required under the Fatal Inquiries Act and examine issues of systemic racism.

Support Eishia’s family by following the results of the upcoming inquest and raising awareness on social media using the following hashtags: #JusticeforEishia #JusticeforEishiaHudson and #NotAnotherIndigenousLife, or by donating to the family in their fight for justice through this Go Fund Me page.