On December 24, 2022, 21-year old Nicous D’Andre Spring was murdered by prison guards at the Bordeaux Detention Centre in Montreal, Quebec while being illegally detained. He was a young Black artist and poet, and was a youth mentor in spaces he was involved in – such as West Haven and the YMCA-NDG.
On February 10, a protest was organized in his honour and was attended by family, friends, and other members of the community. The protest had seven demands including 1) that the officers involved in and connected to his death be prosecuted; 2) that citizens be included in the inquiry of his death and testimonies from prisoners present at his death be released publicly; 3) an apology from Montreal, SPVM, and the Ministry of Public Security; 4) that the footage from Nicous’s death be released and given to his family; 5) that the reasons for his illegal detention and information about why he wasn’t released be made public; 6) for the Quebec government to instate a civilian oversight board involving no police, correctional officers, or other forces of state security; and finally 7) for the over-policing of Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities in Montreal be stopped, with funding redirected to community services.
This video was made possible thanks to Taylor Murray and CUTV’s Grassroots Coverage Fund. For more information on how to apply, visit the section on our website.
