A banner hung on an overpass south of Campbell River depicting a white nationalist statement is sa国际传媒渘ot something we want our community to be known for,sa国际传媒� says RCMP Sgt. Chris Voller.
The banner, which displayed a link to a Telegram Channel, which the company says is a sa国际传媒渢ool for broadcasting your public messages to large audiencessa国际传媒� as well as a message with white supremacist content, was pictured hanging on the Airport Main overpass where it crosses Highway 19. The image has been shared on Facebook as well as Reddit, and had come to the attention of the Campbell River RCMP detachment.
sa国际传媒淟ike any other citizen of our area, I was disappointed,sa国际传媒� said Voller. sa国际传媒淚 look at Campbell River as having a pretty diverse cultural background. We have a lot of Indigenous people, wesa国际传媒檙e a melting pot society, we have all this representation and then theresa国际传媒檚 somebody who is deciding to put this kind of message out.
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 twofold: itsa国际传媒檚 the wrong message sa国际传媒� obviously that sort of thing has no place in Campbell River sa国际传媒� and then two, to other individuals who are visiting our area it really reflects poorly on what I think Campbell Riversa国际传媒檚 community base is,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 a good, respectful group of people that finds that different cultures actually enrich community and donsa国际传媒檛 take away from it, as that person would purport.sa国际传媒�
Vollersa国际传媒檚 sentiment was echoed on social media. One Reddit user wrote in response to a person of colour living in Campbell River that sa国际传媒渢his is DEFINITELY not what CR is about. A group of my friends drove down to take it down, but it was already cut. Please know that you are more than welcome in our community.sa国际传媒�
Voller said the detachment had another report about this kind of thing a few months ago. He is asking if people see further banners or messages like this to report them to the RCMP non-emergency line immediately.
sa国际传媒淲e would never promote a driver using a digital device, but if they could note if theresa国际传媒檚 a person or vehicle present there, we would value that,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚f they are able to wait with it, let the police know and wesa国际传媒檒l get there as soon as possiblesa国际传媒� Please leave it as it is, let the police get there and handle it. It would be treated as evidence.sa国际传媒�
Though the social media attention could have the effect of increasing the messagesa国际传媒檚 reach, Voller said that within Campbell River he thinks there is sa国际传媒渘o appetite for that.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淧eople deserve to not have to see that. Theresa国际传媒檚 enough tragic things going on in the world that draw our attention to negative things, we donsa国际传媒檛 need this in Campbell River,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭his is the first time Isa国际传媒檝e seen something that I believe is a race-based hate crime. Itsa国际传媒檚 hard to say if this would meet the definition for a hate crime, but itsa国际传媒檚 certainly inflammatory. Itsa国际传媒檚 racialized, and not anything that we would want to have in our community.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淥ur community has gone through a lot,sa国际传媒� he said sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e had a lot of issues, especially in the past few months with violence and this sort of thing, and this is just not becoming of our community.sa国际传媒�
The RCMP non-emergency line is 250-286-6221.
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marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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