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Re: Angry protesters mar Trudeau visit to Main Street Newmarket,Sept. 6, 2021; Letter: Media should exposed bigoted campaign mob going from town to town, Sept. 6, 2021; 'We've had our backs pushed against the wall': Newmarket mom explains why protesters are following Liberal leader, Sept. 8, 2021; Letter: Trudeau protests about vaccinations, not election, Sept. 8, 2021.
I am a 76-year-old grandmother and retired teacher. I have attended many rallies in my life, but I have never before felt intimidated and fearful for not only my own safety, but for the safety of others who came to hear what Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau had to say, and for Trudeau himself.
The anti-vaxx mob that was boycotting the event was unlike any I have ever seen except on television when I watched the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capital. These were not protesters, they were intimidators. They hurled disgusting racist and anti-immigrant, hate-filled rhetoric that was filled with filthy language and screaming rage.
Several women were so riled that they pushed their way forward and began in your face screaming epithets like, “Go back where you came from”; “You have no right to be in this country”; “Take off your hijab, you b_ _ ch” while swearing like maniacs at all attendees and particularly at any individuals of colour who were quietly standing there receiving this horrible abuse. I said to myself, “My God, these women are probably mothers and what are they teaching their poor children”.
The police did absolutely nothing to curb their aggressive behaviour or even to restrict their menacing taunts. I asked a police officer standing there if this menacing behaviour and hate speech was allowed, and he replied, “They have as much a right to be here as you do”. I responded by telling him that I was not pushing my way into their faces and screaming vile, hate-filled language at them. He didn’t even respond, but just stood there looking quite relaxed and even chatting with some members of the anti-vaxx mob.
So now, like your commenters, I’m asking, “When does behaviour cross the line and become dangerous?” “What about the rights of the people who are being intimidated by aggressive and hate-filled slurs”? “When does this kind of intimidation and threatening behaviour turn into violence and do we wait for this to happen before the police act?”
And I guess out of fairness I’m also asking, “Why there were so few police on hand to control such a large mob?” Perhaps the police, too, were intimidated and afraid for their own safety.
Fran Bazos, Newmarket
