Recent death of Mahsa Amini in Iran causes unrest among Hamiltonians

Cloudy weather and a few raindrops falling on Hamilton Monday afternoon (Sept. 26) did not stop a group of around 100 people from standing in front of city hall to express their anger over the recent death of Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly killed by Iranian morality police for “showing too much” of her body. The case has made headlines around the world and some Hamiltonians took to the steps of city hall to protest the incident.

People chanted “Say her name, Mahsa Amini” while holding up banners with messages such as “We are their voices” or “How many more lives?” One of the organizers of the meeting, who asked that her name not be used for security reasons, explained her frustration.

“We are angry, and we are upset,” she said. “Being from the diaspora we often see that a lot of violence takes place on a lot of people back home who get killed in cold blood. We are here to back up and raise awareness of what people are experiencing.”

Vehicles driving on Main Street in front of City Hall honked their horns in support of the protesters while passersby asked about the situation and gradually joined the protest.

Romina Kazemibala, one of the protesters, explained the importance of this event.

“Iranians all over the world are protesting, and we felt we needed to do our part to be the voice of Iranians,” Kazemibala said. “Even if we can’t do anything, because the women are fighting on their own in Iran, we are here to support them, and to let the world know what is going on in Iran.”

Some participants used a megaphone to express their dissatisfaction and talk about how they felt about the situation. Others carried large banners with Amini’s face on them as a sign of support, while others handed out flyers.

“I think these kinds of events are very healing,” the organizer said. “It is important to be among each other in community and this just symbolizes that we can be out of Iran, but Iran is never going to be out of us.”

Although the protest was scheduled to end at 6 p.m., some participants remained despite the rain and cold. The crowd dissipated for the most part around 7 p.m.