#JusticeForToyin starts trending after death of activist Oluwatoyin "Toyin" Salau

16 June 2020, 16:21

David Dobrik discusses his $50,000 donation to Black Lives Matter

Jazmin Duribe

By Jazmin Duribe

#JusticeForToyin started trending on Twitter on Monday in honour of Oluwatoyin Salau.

TW: This article contains details about sexual assault.

Oluwatoyin "Toyin" Salau, a Black Lives Matter activist, was found dead in Florida on Saturday (June 13) after sharing she had been sexually assaulted on Twitter.

The Tallahassee Police Department confirmed that Toyin, who was reported missing on June 6, was found alongside Victoria Sims, 75, who had also been reported missing. The police have not confirmed if there was a relationship between Salau and Sims. Both deaths are being investigated as homicides.

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In a statement, Tallahassee Police Department said that one suspect, Aaron Glee Jr, 49, was taken into custody. Police have not confirmed if he is the same man that molested Toyin.

Oluwatoyin Salau Twitter
Oluwatoyin "Toyin" Salau was found dead on Saturday. Picture: @virgingrltoyin via Twitter

Toyin, 19, went missing on June 6 just hours after tweeting about being sexually assaulted by a man early that morning.

"I was molested in Tallahassee, Florida by a Black man this morning at 5:30 on Richview and Park Ave," she wrote. "The man offered to give me a ride to find someplace to sleep and recollect my belongings from a church I refuged to a couple days back to escape unjust living conditions." She also said that the man "came disguised as a man of God".

Toyin was extremely vocal about her support of the Black Lives Matter movement and was known for frequently attending protests, delivering passionate speeches and reciting the names of Black victims of police brutality. "I don’t want their names gone in vain. Those lives may be lost, but we cannot be scared. You are angry and it’s OK to be angry," Salau said during a protest last month, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

After the heartbreaking news of Toyin's death was confirmed by her family, a hashtag started trending on Twitter on Monday (June 15) – #JusticeForToyin – created in her honour.

There was outrage on social media and criticism of the police for not investigating her case throughly enough. People demanded that the Tallahassee Police Department conduct a full investigation into Toyin's death and identify the man who sexually assaulted her.

A Change.org petition demanding justice for Toyin currently has almost 180,000 signatures. You can sign it here.