SUDBURY -- A group of protestors gathered in downtown Sudbury Sunday, following a growing number of demonstrations in the United States and throughout Canada.

The group organized the rally early Sunday morning, not sure how many people would show up but wanting to send a message.

"We needed to bring people together so that we could mourn, we could mourn the racism that's happening in our society, the racism that's literally now tearing our society apart," said Laurie McGauley, one of the organizers. "We want to mourn the people and the victims who have died and who are still dying but we also wanted this to be a call to action to all of us to do something about this. It has to stop!"

The demonstration follows days of unrest in the United States, after the death of George Floyd.

A large demonstration was also held in Toronto Saturday after 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet died after falling from her apartment balcony in Toronto while police were present.

McGauley said that she believes acknowledgement of the issue is the first step to finding a solution. 

"Everything about this country and the United States is based on racism and until we face that and until we acknowledge the racism that is built into our institutions, nothing is going to change," she said. "That has to be something that we actually work on together and take seriously."

In response to the protest, Greater Sudbury Police Service released a statement Sunday night:

"Recent events have challenged the trust between the public and police. We respect the right to take action and protest and we would like to thank everyone for organizing and participating in peaceful action and peaceful protest.

We are dedicated to protecting and serving this community while exemplifying our rich values of respect, inclusivity, courage and honesty.

We also want to continue having to engage in respectful dialogues with all communities to build public trust through community engagement.

We know that there is much work to be done and we will continue to work with you.

We want you to know, we welcome the opportunity to work together and we hear your call for justice and transparency.

Thank you for taking action and standing up for what you believe in."