The Toronto Pride parade was canceled on Sunday evening after being interrupted earlier.
The organization, Pride Toronto, posted on its social media around 6:15 p.m. to announce that “the remainder of the parade has been canceled.”
“We are sorry for the inconvenience. The street party and the stages remain open,” indicated the first publication.
An official press release followed a few hours later on Pride Toronto’s social media channels.
“Today, we made the decision to cancel the remainder of the Pride Parade in order to uphold our commitment to ensuring public safety. We deeply respect and defend the right of all to peacefully protest, but our priority is the well-being of all participants and spectators,” the statement said in English.
Toronto police shared Pride Toronto’s post announcing the parade’s cancellation on their X account.
The police force said its officers were on site “to facilitate the safe movement of people and vehicles.”
Pride Toronto has not confirmed its reasons for canceling the parade shortly after it began.
However, numerous images showing pro-Palestinian protesters have been shared on social media.
In the footage, protesters can be seen holding a banner denouncing the fact that parade partners are also “complicit in the genocide” in Gaza.
