(OTTAWA) Ottawa’s mayor and some city councilors received death threats from the United States during the ‘freedom convoy’ in February, it has been learned The Press. An investigation had been opened about a week after the start of the demonstration, but today it is stalling.
Posted at 7:00 p.m.
In emails obtained under the Access to Information Actformer Ottawa Police Service Chief Peter Sloly says he is aware that an email titled “A Bullet in Your Head” has been sent to multiple recipients within the Ottawa City Council and City officials.
“At this time, scans have determined the location of the sender outside of Canada,” he wrote on February 3.
In a subsequent email sent two days later, he said police are “actively investigating this situation” and asking recipients for their help in obtaining metadata associated with the threatening email.
We are working with US law enforcement to trace the sender of these emails. We have been advised that this person does not reside in Canada.
Peter Sloly, ex-Chief of the Ottawa Police Service, in an email in February
He asks them to send any other threats received to one of his investigators. The Press tried to reach this investigator, without success. “We have no new developments or details to give at this time,” the media relations department replied later.
The councilor for Rideau-Vanier ward in downtown Ottawa, Mathieu Fleury, is not surprised. “It’s a big black hole,” he said in an interview. We submitted a lot of information with few responses. It was difficult to communicate with the police during that time, and then they hid behind higher authorities. »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mathieu Fleury, councilor for the Rideau-Vanier ward, in downtown Ottawa
As the command center formed with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Ontario Provincial Police two weeks after the truck convoy arrived.
“We had difficulty getting the attention of the police in our area, so you can imagine how difficult it was to get their attention on personal threats,” he adds.
Municipal elected officials “most affected”
Exasperated by the incessant horns and the misdeeds committed in the central districts, several municipal councilors had publicly denounced the “freedom convoy”. Mayor Jim Watson said he wanted them to leave the day after their arrival in an interview with CBC.
His office confirms that he received dozens of threats not only in writing, but also verbally. Most of the online threats came from Alberta and the United States, it said. A 49-year-old New Brunswick man pleaded guilty in June to uttering threats against him in a Facebook video.
We had several exchanges on social media, several emails, personal threats.
Mathieu Fleury, councilor for the Rideau-Vanier ward, in downtown Ottawa
“It was quite obvious for the elected municipal officials who were far from the reason for the demonstration, but who were the most affected by the behavior of the demonstrators,” he maintains.
The 36-year-old councilman had made headlines in some right-wing outlets south of the border, including Fox News, for asking the city’s chief executive and chief legal officer to launch legal proceedings in an attempt to obtain the million dollars raised through the GoFundMe site to finance the occupation of the city center. He believed that it was not up to the citizens to pay for the costs incurred and had made this known on Twitter.