Kelowna RCMP say they’re 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 clinic on Springfield Road.
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“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.
In response to the recent incident at a COVID testing site in #Kelowna where one of our security officers was racially targeted, we want to re-affirm our complete #support to our security officer involved, Anmol, and all of our #frontline staff. [1/3]
— Paladin Security (@PaladinSecurity) July 15, 2021
“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.”
Anyone who witnessed this confrontation and has not spoken to police is asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.
