The RCMP Killed Vanessa Rentería—The IIO Just Cleared Them.
. NO JUSTICE. NO PROTECTION. NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) of British Columbia has decided that no charges will be recommended in the police killing of Vanessa Rentería, a Colombian newcomer and mother experiencing a mental health crisis in Surrey.
Once again, the system has written its own permission slip.
Once again, a woman of colour is killed.
Once again, the child she died protecting is left behind—in the care of the man she feared.
And once again, the police walk away without consequence.
The IIO’s findings are framed in cold bureaucratic language. “Reasonable force.” “Imminent threat.” “Language barriers addressed via Google Translate.”
But beneath the legalese is a simple truth: a mother cried for help, and the state responded with a bullet.
This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s a pattern—and the data proves it.
Let’s be clear: Vanessa’s death fits into a well-documented, deeply Canadian pattern of gender-based violence, state violence, and systemic neglect.
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In 2023, there were over 139,000 victims of family violence reported to police in Canada.
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78% of victims of intimate partner violence were women.
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Women and girls were nearly 4x more likely than men and boys to experience intimate partner violence.
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These patterns are consistent across regions—including in British Columbia. (StatsCan, WAGE)
These aren’t just numbers. They are the backdrop to Vanessa’s story—and to the stories of countless women and gender-diverse people who have tried to navigate a system that was never designed to protect them.
🛑 System Failure—Point by Point
Let’s name the failures, one by one:
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Mental Health Crisis Treated as a Threat
Vanessa was not brandishing a weapon. She was not attacking anyone. She was holding her child and experiencing distress.
The IIO says the officer believed there was an “imminent threat” to the baby. And yet—the officer did not give a statement. The RCMP gets to invoke fear without having to prove it. -
Language and Cultural Barriers Ignored
The report references the use of Google Translate to communicate with Vanessa. A mother, in crisis, trying to protect her child, and the institution responding had no trained, Spanish-speaking support personnel on site. This is beyond negligence. It is calculated disregard. -
Custody Silence: A Child Left in the Shadows
Vanessa feared for her safety. We are told—quietly—that her child is now in the care of the very man she feared.
But there is no transparency:-
No public child welfare documents.
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No family court findings.
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No acknowledgement of the trauma this child will carry.
This silence serves power. It erases victims twice.
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Community Voices Have Named the Truth
We are not the first to call this what it is.
Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS), who have long been at the frontlines of gender-based violence response, released a statement highlighting that:
“Vanessa’s killing was the outcome of systemic failure, institutional violence, and racist disregard for the humanity of a racialized immigrant woman in mental health crisis.”
— BWSS Statement on Vanessa Rentería
BWSS is right. And they are not alone.
Vanessa’s story is echoed in too many others — Regis Korchinski-Paquet. Chantel Moore. D’Andre Campbell. Abdirahman Abdi. Different names, same blueprint.
What We’re Demanding—Starting Now
We are tired of memorializing lives taken by the state.
We want structural change. Now.
We demand:
✅ Independent, culturally competent crisis response teams—no guns, no badges, no more deaths in moments of distress.
✅ Transparency around custody and protection—in any fatal police interaction involving a parent, child welfare decisions must be made in the open, by independent oversight, with community input.
✅ Public release of the officer’s statement—or acknowledgement that no statement was provided. Let the public see what “accountability” really looks like.
✅ Investment in care over criminalization—mental health teams, not militarized responses. Translation services and trauma-informed care, not Google Translate and firearms.
✅ Community ownership of safety—through Black, Indigenous, and newcomer-led programs that reflect the realities of those most harmed.
🕊️Vanessa Rentería Was a Mother, Not a Threat
She deserved support.
She was met with force.
Her child deserved protection.
They were met with silence.
Vanessa’s life mattered. Her death was preventable.
We will not allow this decision to pass unchallenged. We will organize. We will grieve. We will demand better because no one should die like this.
Signed,
Brian Seremba, Co-founder and Staff Director
BC Community Alliance
Advocating for community-led safety, dignity, and justice for all.