In a display of community resilience, a large group of residents from Cowichan Valley attended a rally against crime in Duncan, British Columbia, last Friday. The rally was organized in response to a recent violent attack on a local store owner.

Travis Rankin, the founder of Canadian Citizens Against Crime and Public Drug Abuse, expressed frustration at the seeming lack of repercussions for criminals, stating, “There is no consequence, it just keeps happening, and the revolving door through the justice system — we’ve had enough of it.”

The rally took place a week after charges of robbery and assault causing bodily harm were filed against two individuals for the brutal assault of the owner of Hank’s Handimart. The store owner’s son revealed that his father was assaulted after pursuing the alleged thieves who had stolen from the shop.

Jung Woo Kim, the victim’s son, recounted the incident to Global News, stating, “The thieves that were here stole a bunch of groceries, ran off and then my Dad chased after them and then he got beat up pretty quickly after getting into a scuffle with them.”

The accused, Darnell Sterling Grant and Serenity Hoeft, were released from custody within 12 hours, causing widespread uproar. Rally attendees criticized the justice system for its quick release of suspects on bail, and pointed fingers at provincial and federal governments for not doing more to keep violent offenders incarcerated.

Protestor Lori Ivey noted, “There has been a lot of tipping points, but this one definitely caused a big uproar with people.” Travis Rankin echoed these sentiments, lamenting, “It seems like almost every day something is going on, something is broken, something smashed, someone is hurt.”

In response to the public outcry, the provincial government claims it is taking measures to curb crime. Earlier in the week, the Health Ministry announced plans to overhaul its safe supply program, requiring drug users to consume prescribed street drug alternatives like hydromorphone under the supervision of a healthcare worker. The province also lobbied for recent federal changes to increase bail sentences.

Minister of State for Community Services Terry Yung emphasized, “It’s really important that chronic, violent repeat offenders are kept off the street and not released the same day.”

As of now, Grant and Hoeft remain free pending their next court appearance on March 4.