Concerns raised about Edmonton Police Service’s response to racist, hateful message
Global News
The Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton received a hateful message ahead of its Canada Day event. They reached out to police but did not hear back for four days.
Members of the Somali Canadian Cultural Society of Edmonton were getting ready for a Canada Day event Thursday night when a voicemail left them feeling rattled.
President Jibril Ibrahim said a man called at around 6:15 p.m. He used a real trackable number. The man on the 15-second voicemail started off by saying, “Hi, I was wondering if the Somalians was going to celebrate Canada Day celebrations tomorrow?” The man then proceeded to say racist and hateful comments.
“It’s not right, it’s not acceptable at all,” Ibrahim said.
He said the organization reached out to police through outreach emails, but also took it a step further and called 911. The organization also requested safety support for the Canada Day celebrations. As of Tuesday morning, Ibrahim said they haven’t seen or heard from any police officers after their call.
“We don’t want to be intimidated by anyone, so we decided to go ahead (with the event). We were expecting 300 people — only about 100 people showed up because maybe they were afraid something might happen. So it’s not good to have that kind of feeling.
Ibrahim said they kept the doors locked to monitor who was coming in. He said he feels police are not taking their complaint seriously.
“They are not taking any meaningful actions to stem out hate in the city. We should not be feeling this way.”
University of Alberta criminology professor Temitope Oriola said the voicemail that was left doesn’t have a direct threat, but it needs to be considered in the context of the vulnerabilities the Somali community has faced in Edmonton.
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