An
American citizen, Kyle Canty, 30, has applied for asylum in Canada after
claiming he fears the police in the U.S will kill him just because he's black.
Kyle went for a vacation in Vancouver in September and after staying for a few
weeks, decided he was safer there as a black man than the U.S and decided to
stay.
According to CBC, during an
Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) hearing on October 23, Kyle said 'I'm in
fear of my life in the U.S because I'm black... This is a well-rounded fear'.
Kyle, who is representing himself at
the IRB hearing, then cited the police shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri
and the death of Eric Garner in New York City at the hands of cops as examples
of US police exterminating black people 'at an alarming rate'.
Kyle said he was arrested for
trespass in Salem, Oregon, after he spent two hours talking on the phone and
using free Wi-Fi at a bus stop. He said he was harassed or targeted by police
because of his race.
'I got bothered because I'm black,'
he said. 'This is a history of false arrest. My name is ruined because of the
false arrest.'
Kyle is currently is living in a homeless shelter in Vancouver. The board, though commended him for representing a strong case, are yet to determine if he will get the asylum .
No comments:
Post a Comment