Ottawa soup kitchen staff allegedly harassed by truck convoy protesters
Global News
Shepherds of Good Hope's CEO says several protesters showed up at the soup kitchen on Saturday and allegedly verbally abused staff and volunteers while demanding they be served.
The president and CEO of Shepherds of Good Hope says donations and messages of support are pouring in after protesters allegedly harassed staff at an Ottawa soup kitchen.
Deirdre Freiheit says the rally against COVID-19 restrictions and the Liberal government roiling the capital’s downtown has disrupted social services and blocked road access to their shelter.
She says several protesters showed up at the soup kitchen on Saturday and allegedly verbally abused staff and volunteers while demanding they be served.
She says some protesters were given food to defuse the situation.
In a statement emailed to Global News, the CEO said one service user was also assaulted by protesters, “and when a security guard (who is a member of a visible minority) went to help the individual, they had racist abuse hurled at them.”
Shepherds of Good Hope had no desire to comment on this protest, the statement went on to say. However, they felt “compelled to correct disinformation on protest communications channels that we were ‘happy to feed the patriots.’ This was not the case.”
The staff at Shepherds of Good Hope serve roughly 400 meals a day to those in need and due to the pandemic they have to get people in groups of 30 to try and keep people safe, so Freiheit said the incident caused a lot of disruption.