Canadian Mayor apologises for referring to rally that featured swastikas as “peaceful”

A Canadian Mayor has apologised after she referred to an anti-vaccination rally where swastikas were present as “peaceful”.

The rally was organised in opposition to mandates concerning the vaccination status of truckers returning to the United States from Canada. However, among other signs and flags at the rally, the Nazi symbol was also on display throughout. 

At one point during the demonstration, Conservative MP Michael Cooper delivered a televised interview whilst a flag bearing a swastika was visible in the background.

The Mayor of Fredericton, Kate Rogers, apologised for her remarks after Dr Manju Varma, the Commissioner on Systemic Racism for New Brunswick, said that it was wrong to call the rally peaceful, stating: “I can count racist symbolism and imagery directly tied to or explicitly referencing white ethnonationalism, white supremacy, antisemitism, anti-refugee hate, and far-right extremism…Let me be absolutely and unequivocally clear: these are acts of violence.”

Mayor Rogers apologised on Twitter, writing: “When I referred to the protest this past weekend as peaceful, I meant that it was contained and managed without use of force.

“I understand that my characterisation of the protest minimised the impact felt by members of our community and I am sorry.”

Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination networks have become known as hotbeds of antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes.

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