The depth of sadness, frustration and anger rings out, in the words of Yves Ikobe, who lost his brother, Erixon Kabera, shot to death in November by Hamilton police.
“I can’t pick up the phone and call him whenever I want to,” he told CBC Hamilton.
“I miss talking to him. I miss every little piece of him.”
Kabera, 43, died in the early hours of Nov. 10 after being shot by Hamilton police in his apartment building the day before.
A rally demanding justice took place on Saturday at Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
“We really want answers,” said Ikobe, two days before the Saturday gathering. “Anything we can do to get answers as quickly as possible, that’s what we’ll do.”
WATCH | Yves Ikobe speaks about his brother, Erixon Kabera during Hamilton rally
Hundreds of people gathered at city hall in Hamilton on Thursday to mourn the death of Erixon Kabera, a father of three young children known for his kindness and dedication to the city’s Rwandan community, shot to death by Hamilton police.
Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) took over the investigation and, over a month later, there have been no updates.
“We want to make sure that the whole country knows what happened to him,” said Ikobe.
One of Kabera’s brothers, Parfait Karekezi was at the rally, according to Ikobe, who lives and works in Regina, Sask.
Karekezi told CBC Ottawa on Saturday that Kabera was “a great man” known by the community in Hamilton and Toronto. He was a community organizer, he said, and one of the last events Kabera put together was a soccer match between the Rwandan community and Hamilton police.
Karekezi said they wanted to show up at Parliament Hill because he and his family “want to know the truth.”
“Losing him was a shock to us,” said Karekezi, who lives in Gatineau, Que., and spoke to around a dozen people at the gathering.
‘They killed him like a dog’
Ikobe said his brother had “multiple” gunshot wounds and broken bones. He also said there were at least six or seven bullets that hit the wall, from what he saw in Kabera’s apartment.
“He had arms broken. What are you doing to a person that you need to get to that point?” he said.
“They killed him like a dog.”
The SIU said in a statement on Nov. 9 there was an “exchange of gunfire.” The next day, they issued another statement saying, based on “further investigation”, “it does not appear that the man discharged a firearm,” but rather two police officers did.
CBC Hamilton asked the SIU whether they have spoken with the officers involved. A spokesperson said the “investigation is ongoing. Individuals continue to be interviewed, and evidence is being analyzed.”
Ikobe said he wants answers and transparency.
“Whatever happens as far as justice being served, it’s not going to bring back my brother,” he said.
“But we need to prevent this from happening again.”
Living in Canada was Kabera’s lifelong dream
Kabera was the oldest of five siblings and a father to three children aged 17, 13 and 10.
In a letter to the SIU, Ikobe said one of his brother’s dreams was to live in Toronto one day.
Coming from Rwanda, Kabera used to joke about Canadian winters, Ikobe said, and ended up inspiring him to migrate.
“[This] puts a huge doubt in anybody that’s trying to reach that Canadian dream,” he said.
“And now we [are] being killed by the service that’s supposed to protect us. It’s absurd.”
Ikobe, 34, said he was very close with his “big brother,” and saw him as a father figure since following him to Canada.
“He was more of a very best friend as well,” he said.
The pair used to talk over video “all the time,” Ikobe said, and he would go to Kabera to share all sorts of milestones and to ask for advice.
“That was a big part of my life that has been taken away from me,” he said.