Kelowna RCMP are investigating alleged racist comments that were made at a vaccine clinic on Tuesday.
According to police, the investigation stems from a video of a “racist tirade” made at the Trinity Church Kelowna on Springfield Road.
“The original complaint was that protestors were impeding access to the clinic,” said Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy of the Kelowna RCMP.
“Officers attended spoke with staff and dealt with the protestors. No arrests were made at that time.”
Police said since then, a video has emerged of a protestor yelling what appear to be racially motivated comments and accusations at a staff member who asked him to leave the property.
“The accused in the video has been identified by police, and the Kelowna RCMP is in the process of conducting a full investigation into this matter,” police said in a press release.
The security guard is Anmol Singh, a 23-year-old South Asian immigrant, who has lived in Kelowna for four years.
“I felt really bad, like I felt it was a hate crime,” Singh told Global News on Thursday.
“I talked to the police too, because I didn’t feel good at all and how he said it in front of a lot of people, just felt really bad. When I went home after (work), I couldn’t sleep.”
Singh said he hasn’t experienced much racism in Canada and but this incident was traumatic.
“I only started (this job) two months ago, so it’s totally a new thing to me,” said Singh.
“I just feel really upset. I feel like I’m not being welcomed into this country.”
Singh said he wants to be a Canadian police officer and that is why he became a security guard in the Okanagan.
“We are now investigating this incident through the lens of the willful promotion of hatred under Section 319 of the Criminal Code,” Noseworthy said.
“Racism has no place in our community, and I want to reassure the public that this matter is being given the full attention of our General Investigative Support Team in consultation with the provincial Hate Crimes Unit.”
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said he’s all for the right to peacefully protest but actions like this are deplorable.
“It’s hard to watch, its really hard to watch. When you see what this person has been doing around our community for the last couple months, you get an idea of who we are dealing with here,” said Basran.
“It’s unfortunate that this person feels like he can treat people this way. It’s completely unacceptable, it’s ignorant and not welcome here in our city.”
B.C. Premier John Horgan took to twitter to condemn the actions the man showed in the video.
Anyone who witnessed this confrontation and has not spoken to police is asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.
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