(UPDATE) Family of woman killed in Mexico forced to create new Facebook campaign group after copyright infringement report

Updated, February 8th, 7:30 p.m.: This story was updated to include a statement from Bennett Jones LLP.

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. — The family of a Dawson Creek woman who was killed in Mexico in 2023 had to create a new campaign group on Facebook after the former one was taken down. 

The ‘Justice for Kiara: Trevor Agnew’ Facebook group was started by Kiara Agnew’s family after the former one – ‘Justice for Kiara’ – was taken down by the Meta-owned social media platform. 

Kiara Agnew, 23, was killed in Mexico in 2023 at her hotel near Playa del Carmen.    

Agnew’s boyfriend – Ryan Friesen – was initially found ‘not guilty’ by the Mexican courts, but this decision was later overturned and he has now been declared ‘guilty’ of femicide.

As Friesen appeals this decision, he remains in Canada. 

The Agnew family has been using the ‘Justice for Kiara’ Facebook group to share updates about the case and protests being held. 

Denise Brunsdon, who used to work at Bennett Jones LLP, recently shared a statement regarding Friesen’s appeal. 

The ‘Justice for Kiara’ group shared the statement in a post, which was taken down.  

Naomi Agnew, Kiara’s stepmother, told Energeticcity.ca the group was taken down two weeks ago. 

She said: “They [Facebook] took the page down citing the statement from Ryan’s lawyer…which we shared without any changes – they cited as copyright [infringement].”

Bennett Jones told Energeticcity.ca it did not request the Justice for Kiara Facebook page be taken down or authorise a request for any portion of it be taken down.

It said it “understands that Ms Brunsdon specifically requested removal of certain Bennett Jones website images for copyright reasons, but not her public statement,” adding Brunsdon is “no longer with the firm.”

Tanya Agnew, Kiara’s aunt, said she received an email explaining why the group was taken down. 

Naomi said: “She [Tanya] filed a complaint and disputed it. She talked to someone from Facebook who said that they were going to look into it.

“We’ve been waiting for information back from Facebook because they are working on [trying] to figure out why it was taken down and how to go about restoring it.”

Multiple protests are being organized in Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Edmonton, Moncton, New Brunswick and Ontario asking the police to detain Ryan Friesen as he appeals the ‘guilty’ verdict. 

Tanya has also launched a petition to ‘enforce’ the guilty conviction of Friesen and it has received more than 4,000 signatures as of February 6th. 

To view the petition, click here.