Londoners ‘take back’ bridge following white nationalist rally in same spot

More than 100 Londoners spent Sunday afternoon on a downtown-area overpass to cheer, dance, and spread a message of “love, joy and community” in response to an apparent white nationalist demonstration that happened exactly one week earlier. 

On Nov. 23, some London residents reported seeing around 30 men standing at attention, masked and wearing black, waving flags on the Wortley Road overpass above Horton Street.

The group displayed a banner reading “remigration now,” alongside the Canadian Red Ensign flag, the flag of Ontario and the flag of the white supremacist nationalist group Second Sons Canada, which claimed to have organized the gathering on social media. 

Ward 11 Coun. Skylar Franke said she got several phone calls from residents in the area who were upset about last weekend’s demonstration, and it prompted her to organize a different kind of event. 

“It made a lot of people in the community feel unsafe, nervous and intimidated,” said Franke, who organized Sunday’s Wortley Bridge Party. “This is to try to remind people that London and Old South is a place of love and people are welcome here.”

Franke invited Londoners to join her on the bridge for an hour of free coffee, cookies, music, chalk art and bubbles. 

People braved the cold to line both sides of the overpass, holding a large banner reading “all welcome” while waving pride and Canadian flags. Colourful chalk art across the bridge read messages including, “everyone belongs here,” and “Canada looks better in colour.”

“Many people have come here in the last hour and said, ‘We need to reclaim and we need to take back the Wortley Street bridge,’ and we’ve done that with smiles,” Londoner Jim Kogelheide said. 

“We will take a stand, be strong, and get the message of peace, love and hope out into the community to encourage everyone else to hold those values,” he added.

Some residents told CBC News that they were shocked to see a white nationalist demonstration in the city.

“This country is built on immigration and we’ve always welcomed people with open arms when it comes to immigration,” said Steve Selmenci. “That awful protest that happened last weekend is unacceptable in this country. We are all Canadians and we should stand for one another. 

Other residents said that while they were not surprised by last Sunday’s events, it was jarring to see it happen so close to home. 

“We’ve seen this growth of far right politics in Canada, but it really hits home when it happens on a road that you come down regularly and you see that it’s an actual threat to people in your community,” said Rykker Nyberg, who grew up in the neighborhood. “This was a real wake up call that this is a serious problem.”

There were a handful of counterprotesters who stood underneath the overpass, including a person wearing a Star Wars stormtrooper costume and waving the Canadian Red Ensign flag, as well as one person yelling up to the party while carrying a “mass deportation now” poster.