Posted on 02/08/2022 7:19:14 AM PST by billorites
As the anti-pandemic rule protest in Ottawa continues into its second week, many residents in the downtown core say they have been living a nightmare, constantly under siege and with many terrified to leave their homes — except to seek refuge elsewhere.
Residents described being bombarded by relentless honking, fireworks, being choked by diesel fumes, seeing hate symbols openly displayed, subjected to racial, homophobic and transphobic slurs, attacked for wearing masks, and feeling let down by all levels of government and police since the first vehicles set up Jan. 28.
While there may be some reprieve to the horns after a judge granted a 10-day interim injunction Monday, many residents point out that won't put an end to the multitude of other worries they're facing.
"Being a woman of colour, I felt very fearful," said Arushana, who left her home in the ByWard Market to stay with a colleague in the Glebe last weekend. CBC is not using her last name because she is concerned for her safety.
After putting up with sleepless nights and fireworks being aimed at her building, one of the final straws was seeing a Confederate flag on her way home from work.
"I broke down," she said. "As a first generation immigrant child, seeing such hatred, especially when my parents came to this country to provide me and my sister with a better opportunity and a better life .... I didn't feel safe."
Kevin Nielsen described feeling "a general sense of terror," living within blocks of Parliament Hill and felt intimidated every time he left his building. He left his home on Thursday to stay with friends elsewhere in the city.
"I was constantly on high alert," he said. "It had a large impact on my mental health."
He said he witnessed others being subjected to homophobic slurs, while also facing them himself through social media.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, whose ward encompasses much of the affected area has received hundreds of emails from residents "who just are at their wit's end."
"They were unable to sleep. They felt helpless. Many people who have been in touch with me have moved out of their homes," McKenney said told CBC. "But we also have people living downtown or living in social housing, and we have seniors who have not been able to leave."
'It's been hell, to put it bluntly,' said Richard Troy Baker, an Ottawa resident who teaches online cooking courses, about how the protests in downtown Ottawa have affected his life and his ability to feel safe outside his home. Baker has ataxia and uses a wheelchair.
CBC also heard dozens of similar stories from people.
'I am a Jewish woman … On top of the deafening honking and stench of diesel, seeing the rampant anti-Semitism and the harassment of women for wearing masks was incredibly distressing," one person wrote in an email.
Yet another wrote she was confronted on her way to the grocery store. "I was shoved, screamed at, called [sexist and homophobic slurs], and had three large men try to pen me in and physically block my way, because I was wearing a mask."
One woman said that even though she doesn't live downtown, she's still fearful.
"I am a brown woman and I am also incredibly scared of the occupiers. It infuriates me that people seem to be more upset about the war memorial than Nazi flags, Confederate flags and Trump flags being brandished about," she wrote.
"I have lived in Ottawa my whole life and … this is the first time in my life that I don't feel safe enough to [walk around]."
Residents feel abandoned
Many of the people who have left said they recognized they were privileged to have a quieter place to go. But one person wrote about how even fleeing didn't mean truly escaping.
"What may be the most difficult aspect [is that] most of my family supports the protest. It is heartbreaking that as I am going through this trauma, I have family trying to defend the protest to me," she wrote. "This is a siege, not a protest and it is non-stop harassment."
One persistent theme among the emails and people CBC spoke with was they feel let down by government and Ottawa police.
As one person wrote, "All levels of government failed the citizens downtown."
Violence? Lol. Liars.
O Canada! Your capital city is full of whining little pussies.
Normal people who live in NYC and most other large US cities also live in fear, every day, thanks to Soros.
Fake News alert needed.
Why are they fearing violence? These have been peaceful so far.
Silly goose, don't you know that the stuff that makes it so they can live dowtown...just happens? And now the truckers are disrupting it. The downtowner's fear, whether based in reality or not, is all that matters now.
I would wager that every single one of these is completely fictional....
Pure lying propaganda. The trucker protests have huge public support in Canada and the US.
Oh, “transphobic slurs”? Somebody get the smelling salts.
The only violence is from the liberals driving cars into the crowds.
I’ve lived ‘in town” on main streets several times......first you grow accustomed to the traffic noise, parades and protests which are ongoing. 2nd, those with brown skin are afraid because they know their people have been crying fake racism against whites ever since BLM took to the streets...why not now as well.
3rd, Truduea sees those protesting as “peasants” and himself as speaker for the elites...certainly not that he serves the people.
But $blm was probably okay.
I'm browsing MSM photos of the convoy right now. I see American flags, Canadian flags, freedom and anti-vax and anti-mask signs. Are these the "symbols of hate" they're talking about? I sure don't see much else being waved or displayed.
Oh, wait ... there's a sign that says "to thine own self be true"! Such hatred! *gasp*
Might have just found one. A trucker has a middle finger to Trudeau on the grill of his rig. And some F Trudeau signs. Had to really look for those.
This is an over used and common gaslighting tactic: “subjected to racial, homophobic and transphobic slurs”.
Whenever you see that sentence you can be sure that the article is pure bullshit. The convoy protest is so peaceful and civilized compared to the summer of hate we had to go through in america.
“All levels of government failed the citizens downtown.”
The truckers and their supporters believe “all levels of government” failed them.
The truckers and their supporters could make quite a few of the complaints levied in the article.
After putting up with sleepless nights and fireworks being aimed at her building, one of the final straws was seeing a Confederate flag on her way home from work.
"I broke down," she said. "As a first generation immigrant child, seeing such hatred, especially when my parents came to this country to provide me and my sister with a better opportunity and a better life .... I didn't feel safe."
Wow, this is written like it was a feminist monologue.
First generation immigrant? To Canada? From another Commonwealth country? Seems to be doing pretty well if she can afford her own flat in Ottawa.
And exactly how is she afraid of a US Confederate flag when the only one seen was carried by Trudeau's official photographer and henchmen, for a photo op?
Such hatred ... by the government towards its own citizens. That's what she should be afraid of.
Boo Hoo Girl reacts to the spread of Marxist Horse Manure ...
I am quite sure the CBC was very selective in whom they spoke to and put their own spin on what was said.
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