Rash of racism in Kelowna

• Police will investigate racism to full extent of law
• RCMP Inspector can't say if pandemic-related stress is a factor
• Public must speak out when they see or hear racism

Updated Wed. Oct.3

Kelowna RCMP have identified the suspect involved in the hate incident that occurred on a city bus on October 31. Mounties said through the assistance of the public and media reporting, the person who made the hate motivated remarks has been identified. They will not release the name of the suspect as the criminal investigation is continuing and no charges have been sworn.

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Three incidents of alleged racism in almost as many days in the last week has Kelowna RCMP speaking to the importance of the public doing the right thing by speaking out.

The first incident, on Oct.27, was the hanging effigy from a tree and confederate flag as part of a Halloween display at a property in the North End. Then came the racist graffiti against a Korean restaurant in Glenmore on Oct.30, followed the next day by a racist verbal assault on the Route 8 city bus that led to an altercation when a passenger responded.

“There is no place for racism in this community … Canada is built on a framework of diversity where, with the exemption of our Indigenous Peoples, we all originate from outside of Canada,” Inspector Adam MacIntosh told a media conference Tuesday. He said all such incidents would be investigated and dealt with within the law or through bylaws.

Effigy and unwelcome flag

Updating each of the incidents, MacIntosh said the flag and effigy were removed after police investigated and spoke with the homeowner. He said there was nothing making it a criminal matter, “but it was certainly offensive.”

Racist graffiti

MacIntosh said police believe the graffiti at the Korean restaurant happened the day after a customer was refused entry for not following current restriction measures. That person came back and is believed to be responsible for the vandalism.

Abuse on bus

And regarding the bus incident, police are looking for the people who were subject to the racist language to come forward as well as whoever recorded the matter on their phone. MacIntosh said they were considering the racist comments as a potential hate crime and were also looking at the matter as assault, because the guilty party physically attacked a passenger who tried to intervene.

Speak out, take action

Applauding how passengers intervened during the racist assault on the bus, MacIntosh said it was important the public speaks out when they see such things.

“If they see someone making racist remarks, speak up. When you allow this to continue, you’re just helping to further these individuals’ ability to do these things. “

What’s causing this?

Asked if the current stressful times could be playing a role in some people’s behavior MacIntosh said: “we’ve heard the term ‘we’re in unprecedented times’, and we certainly are.”

He labelled the last 18 months as a mental health crisis around the effects, restrictions and frustrations of the pandemic, which adds to people’s stress.

“Whether or not that’s an actual compounding factor as to why a person chose to make racists remarks, chose to hang an effigy, chose to spray-paint racist symbols, I can’t answer that. That lies within the individual.”