Saskatoon youth organize a community walk in honour of Brandon Applegate

As they walked through the community, people shared their stories about violence and offered support to one another in a time of need.

Over a hundred Saskatoon youth and residents made their way to Pleasant Hill Park Saturday to participate in a walk aimed at raising awareness about the violence people face in Saskatchewan.

The walk was in honour of Brandon Applegate who was murdered by Justin Ballantyne on Oct. 4, 2020.

Applegate was 22 years old at the time of his death and was heavily involved with volunteering in the community.

For Allison Forsberg, a Chokecherry Studios Wapahki Coordinator who was in attendance at the walk, today is about showing the public the impact violence has on everyone.

“Two years ago unfortunately we lost one of our youths… He was very involved with our community and it’s unfortunate that violence does happen and it’s unfortunate he lost his life to that,” she said.

As they walked through the community, people shared their stories about violence and offered support to one another.

“It’s important for us to provide a community and a safe place and to allow a safe place to talk about violence,” Forsberg said.

“I feel like a lot of times with something so controversial like violence there is a lot of ‘Oh you’re a bad person because you go out and commit these crimes.’ But it’s not just that. There is a lot of systematic oppression and racism that goes into it.”