Police investigating after Peterborough protesters hurl insults at NDP’s Jagmeet Singh

Police are investigating after a video circulated on social media showed people hurling verbal abuse at NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh during a protest in Peterborough this week.

The federal NDP leader had dropped by the campaign office for Jen Deck, the Ontario NDP candidate for Peterborough-Kawartha in the provincial election, on Tuesday afternoon.

A video shows Singh encountering protesters as he leaves the campaign office, who can be heard shouting expletives at him and calling him a “traitor” as he gets inside a vehicle.

Tim Farquharson, the acting chief of the Peterborough Police Service, says in a video posted to YouTube today that police are “actively investigating” after receiving a complaint.

“Anyone seeing the video should find it disheartening, morally unacceptable, and lacking the respect each resident and visitor deserves,” Farquharson said. “To those involved in this incident… your actions and belief systems are reprehensible, unconscionable, and in some cases, criminal.”

He says anyone who sees the video “should find it disheartening (and) morally unacceptable,” and police are also encouraging anyone with more video or information to come forward.

Singh told reporters today that he found the experience “intense, threatening (and) insulting” but that he is more worried about what it means for politics in general.

“I have visited many times and I know your community is filled with good people who want the best for each other,” Singh said afterwards. “When hate is given space to grow, it spreads like wildfire.”

Singh wrote confronting hate is integral, saying he loves Peterborough.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Singh and others “deserve to live and work freely, without intimidation.”

“So many times I’ve watched my friend Jagmeet Singh meet hate with grace — just like he and our candidate Jen Deck did in Peterborough,” Horwath said on social media. “But they shouldn’t have to. They deserve to live and work freely, without intimidation. Jen and Jagmeet, we’ve got your back.”