Ottawa's police chief says the response to the protest has been a success. Not everyone agrees
CBC
Ottawa's police chief says his force's response to the convoy protest has been a "success," but some critics say he's ignoring multiple reports of harassment, vandalism and assault that have plagued the capital's downtown core since Friday.
Chief Peter Sloly says the response has achieved its most important goals.
"The question was, is the bar of success no riots, no injuries, no death? Absolutely," he said earlier this week.
But Coun. Catherine McKenney, whose Somerset ward covers the protest area, disagrees. "I'll tell you what's not been a success is the response in a residential neighbourhood in Centretown, where it is chaos."
McKenney suggested the chief was ignoring some significant problems that have occurred in their ward.
"I can't begin to explain the messages I'm getting. Hundreds every day. They are heart-wrenching — of people being harassed. I have a video of a homeless person beat up on Bank Street," they said. "I have accounts of women being sexually harassed; people being followed on the streets — yelled at, harassed; trucks driving up sidewalks, going through downtown neighbourhoods.
"Ottawa police have got to get back into the neighbourhood that is crumbling at this point and do their jobs right."
Many anti-vaccine mandate protesters remain in the downtown core, with big rigs and other trucks along major roads, forcing the shutdown of many businesses over safety concerns. People who live in the core say the truck horns are blaring into all hours of the night and starting again early in the morning.
Several protesters have been accused of violence, harassment, racism and homophobia. Ottawa paramedics have also confirmed rocks and verbal abuse were hurled at an ambulance and first responders over the weekend.
While some residents have praised the officers' efforts, others accuse police of employing a racial double standard.
"The double standard couldn't be more blatant," Robin Browne, co-lead of the advocacy group 613-819 Black Hub, said in a statement. "We suspect that if the truckers had been Black and Indigenous, the police would have reacted very, very differently."
Police say several investigations into protest-related incidents are underway. Sloly has said the volatility of the protests and the risk of escalating a situation — possibly endangering residents and first responders — make it difficult to lay charges or issue tickets when incidents occur.
"That is the reality of policing these large scale, dynamic demonstrations," he said Monday. "We've done our very best. We've kept the city safe."
Michaela Bax-Leaney, who placed a sign on her balcony over the weekend expressing support for COVID-19 vaccines, said that sign was knocked down by a protester, then someone later climbed the tree next to her balcony and tore it down again.
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