Alberta’s former municipal affairs minister says she is outraged after COVID-19 protesters came to her house on the weekend and hung up a noose.
Tracy Allard calls the threats and intimidation inexcusable and says her private life and her family are out of bounds to protesters.
Allard made the comments on her Facebook page where she described what happened at her home in Grande Prairie on Sunday.
She told reporters Monday afternoon she wasn’t home at the time when the protest began and that it was a friend who advised her what was happening.
“We had a friend, and actually a former political opponent reach out and say, ‘I’m really sorry this is happening at your house’ to which I replied, ‘What is happening at my house?'” Allard said.
“It was really disturbing.
“And I think the most disturbing piece for me was at the end of it, they left a noose and that is a clear act of aggression and utterly unacceptable.”
She said it began with a small group of protesters that soon grew to 30, prompting police to be called.
Allard says the protesters left behind a crude wooden gallows with a noose and the words: “No to masks. End the gov’t. Hang `em all.”
No charges laid
RCMP told Global News they did attend to a group of protesters outside of a home on 67 Avenue in the Grande Banks neighbourhood. A news release sent later in the afternoon stated the protest was adjacent to Allard’s residence.
Const. Lindsay Ralph said protesters were complying with officers’ orders and it was a peaceful protest.
“The officers did note there was a stick of wood with a noose attached to it,” Ralph said.
“It was connected to a fence located near the residence. When officers saw that, they did expect that that would have to be removed and it was removed without any issue.”
Though it was taken off the fence, as ordered, Ralph said she couldn’t confirm where the wooden gallow and noose ended up.
According to RCMP, the file has since been closed and no charges were laid as police were not able to identify the person responsible for bringing it nor their intentions.
In the meantime, Allard says she’ll be working with the sergent-at-arms along with the RCMP to investigate further as she says it’s important for people to know this isn’t acceptable at any time.
“I think in a democracy we have to point out the things that are not acceptable … especially in a polarized time of our lives like this one has been, it can start to feel normal for things like this to happen — but this is not normal, it’s not OK no matter what political background you’re from.”
—With files from the Canadian Press