It always means a lot when our favorite superhero actors prove themselves to be thoroughly decent people off-screen as well as on, and Mark Ruffalo has definitely done just that several times over. Whether it be his thoughts on the SAG strike, the rise of AI in Hollywood, and just generally supporting trans people, the Hulk star’s Twitter takes never fail to come down on the right side of history.
Sadly, Ruffalo’s latest attempt to call out the injustices of the world touches on a very tragic situation brewing over in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Canadian court gave consent for the police to remove a blockade of a landfill site by protesters in the face of beliefs the dump could contain the remains of two indigenous women, who are suspected to be the victims of a local serial killer.
In response to another tweet highlighting a newspaper article about the police using gas on the protesters, Ruffalo shared his shocked reaction to the news. “It’s hard to believe there could be four bodies, killed by perhaps a serial killer, as possible evidence in a landfill, and the authorities are blocking anyone going in to look for them,” the 55-year-old actor wrote. “Is this a Native thing?”
The two indigenous women in question are Morgan Beatrice Harris (39) and Marcedes Myran (26). Both members of the Long Plain First Nation, Harris and Myran are believed to have been murdered by Jeremy Skibicki, charged with four counts of first-degree murder in December 2022. When explaining why the landfill search has been prohibited, local officials have stated that a thorough search of the tip would take many years and cost millions, as well as there being no way to guarantee they would find the bodies at all.
Despite the court decision and the police action, protesters remain undeterred. As Val Vint told CBC News: “We want our sisters dug up from out the most inappropriate burial site you can think of.”
This is one case when it really shouldn’t take an Avenger to see the right thing to do here, and yet sadly it apparently does.