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RCMP say they are trying to identify a group of protesters who swarmed the vehicle of Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, including whoever smashed its windshield while he was inside.
The incident happened Wednesday at Acadia University in Wolfville, where Houston was speaking to the Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce about his vision for the province’s economy.
As Houston left the event, the SUV he was travelling in was surrounded. Police say an individual then climbed onto the vehicle and broke the windshield.
“Those who unlawfully interfere with or threaten the safety of any person or property will be held accountable,” RCMP said in a news release Thursday.
“Acts of violence will not be tolerated and will be investigated fully by police.”
‘Not the Nova Scotian way,’ premier says
Houston reflected on the incident when reporters asked him about it at his chamber of commerce tour stop in Yarmouth, N.S., on Thursday.
He said he was thankful for law enforcement and security in a situation he described as “volatile” and “not the Nova Scotian way.”
“It would be hard to find a group of strikers or protesters or people with opinions that I won’t engage with. I stop and talk with them all the time. But it was clear that this was not a situation where people wanted to have any engagement, there was a lot in the air,” Houston told reporters.
Houston said he doesn’t anticipate that incident will change how he interacts with people. He said he wasn’t nervous about his stop in Yarmouth.
“I had to believe that was pretty isolated,” he said, adding that he’s received support from people across the province and other politicians.
The windshield of the vehicle Premier Tim Houston was travelling in was smashed on Wednesday. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)
RCMP said one man was arrested on Wednesday and released without charges.
The release said the arrest was related to an incident that occurred during the protest, but the individual arrested is not believed to have been involved in the damage to the premier’s vehicle or in preventing that vehicle from leaving the area.
Geoff Ball, 80, said he was taken into custody, but insists he was protesting peacefully.
“They grabbed me, dragged me across the pavement and smashed me face first into a wall, proceeded to put handcuffs on me so tight I still have marks,” Ball said in a Zoom interview Wednesday evening, adding that his shorts were also torn during the ordeal.
“It was very painful. And then they threw me roughly into the back seat.”
WATCH | Houston has condemned the behaviour:
Angry protesters surround N.S. premier Houston’s car, smash windshield
The office of Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston condemns the behaviour of protesters who surrounded him in his car, breaking its windshield, after Houston appeared at an event at Acadia University.
When Houston first arrived on campus, about 50 peaceful protesters were standing outside, mostly looking to draw attention to concerns about the potential closure of five libraries in the Annapolis Valley.
But as the premier spoke, the crowd grew larger and louder. People were protesting a number of issues including the ability for Mi’kmaq to regulate their own cannabis sales, the province’s plan to promote fracking and mining, and the need to observe treaty rights.
Premier Tim Houston was escorted by police after his vehicle was surrounded by protesters in Wolfville, N.S., on Wednesday. (Jeorge Sadi/CBC)
Steve Hewitt, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham whose areas of expertise include security, intelligence and the RCMP, said it appears there were security failures during the incident.
“It seems incredibly unprofessional that you’ve got the top elected official in the province going to an event, and normally I would assume there would be some intelligence generated about the potential for protests at a university,” Hewitt said in a Zoom interview on Wednesday from Birmingham, United Kingdom.
“It seems like he was completely unprotected.”
On Thursday, the RCMP said additional resources were deployed and contingency plans were activated for the premier’s stop in Yarmouth.
“RCMP risk assessments are ongoing before and during events of this nature, and policing resources can be adjusted as circumstances evolve,” a spokesperson for the RCMP told CBC News in an email.
“We continue to monitor the situation and will deploy resources as required to support public safety.”
The Department of Justice declined to give details about the premier’s security arrangements, saying it “would compromise the security of everyone involved.”
The protest follows months of warnings from Nova Scotia politicians over rising threats and harassment against elected officials.
‘I’m a believer in free speech, but not in attacks’
Yarmouth Mayor Pam Mood told CBC News earlier this week she has been receiving threats of violence online and called for more protections for elected officials.
On Thursday, Mood said the incident involving Houston left her “shaken.”
“You can call me names, you can do what you want that way. I’m a believer in free speech, but not in attacks,” said Mood.
“I’m hearing so many young leaders say, ‘I would never step into that mess,’ and that, I can’t tell you how much that scares me. Because we need good leaders.”
In March, cabinet minister Kim Masland said she was taking more precautions to ensure her safety after police arrested a man who tried to enter her Liverpool home through the back door.
As well, MLA Rick Burns said he and his wife were the victims of blackmail after hackers accessed and shared videos and intimate images on his personal devices.
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