Hamilton city councillor got racist, threatening messages after deadly U.S. Capitol riot

A city councillor in southern Ontario says her office received tworacist, threatening voice messagesfrom a Hamilton mandays after the attackat theU.S. Capitol thatkilled five people.

Hamilton city councillor Nrinder Nann (Ward 3) revealed details of the hateful messages during a council meeting on Wednesday the same dayJoe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as U.S. President and Vice President respectively.

"We can't even celebrate moments of joy," Nann said emotionallyin a phone interview during her lunch break.

Nann, the only womanof colour on council, told membersthe voicemail from a "disgruntled white resident" came days after pro-Trump extremistsstormed the U.S. Capitolduringa chaotic protest aimed at thwarting a peaceful transfer of power to Biden.

The transcripts of the two messagesfrom Jan. 10, shared with CBC News, show the caller said he would:

• Buy amachete, handcuffs, and zip ties.
• Summon hate groups like the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and Sons ofOdin.
• Use a container to arrest Black people, who he labelled as criminals.

"He went on to say what happened in the States is going to happen here," Nann told city council.

"I share this today to anyone in our city who is willfully ignorant to how deep hate runs in our city [and] in our country, founded on colonialism."

It comes as the city triesto shake off a reputation for hatred. Hamilton had the highest rate of hate crimes in Canada during 2018.

Councillor wants deeper police investigation

Nann said she reported the threat to police roughly a week ago. She said theyacted swiftly anddetermined there was no threat.

Jackie Penman, spokesperson with the Hamilton Police Service, confirmed officers responded to Nann's report on Monday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.

"Investigators immediately followed up and interviewed the individual responsible. The individual indicated they had made a bad decision based on their mental state at the time," she wrote in an email.

"Hamilton Police continue to investigate and the report has been referred to COAST and Hate Crime for follow up."

Nann says while officerswere diligent,shehas questions about how they determined the man wasn't a threat and if he has ties tothe hate groups he named.

"This is something that needs a deeper investigation to take a look at what's the truth of the matter in terms of the presence of extremist organizations in our city, and what is the level of threat, and who should know that information. Where do we go to get accurate intel on this?" she said.

"That's information Hamiltoniansdeserve to know and if that work isn't being done then we need to know that too ... there are additional funds and resources available for that work to be carried out."

Tina Fetner, a McMaster University sociologist whospecializes in right wing activism, says while researchers and organizations look into hate groups, and police services investigate them, there"is not a database or official kind of hate-tracking" in Canada for the public.

"Because that's not visible to us, it creates a real disconnect in communication between somebody who reports what sounds like a real threat to the police and the police saying it's not [a threat]. You need a level of trust there," she said.

"The Hamilton police department and their dealingwith hate groups over the last year or so, I think that level of trust has worn away and so I'm not surprised at all councillorNann is concerned."

Nann said her office knows the resident who sent the voicemail. She said he has never said anything like this to her office before. Sheinformed him his messagewasbeing reported to the police and offered him links for any support he needed.

"He did reply to that and indicated that he apologized, he felt sorry, that he doesn't want to cause any harm to anyone, and he would cease communication with the office," Nann said.

After she told policeabout the racist messages, Nann also says she was in touch with city security.

Mayor denounces threat

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, who previouslyapologized after joking about the U.S. Capitol attack, was the only person to respond to Nann during the council meeting.

He saidNann has his and city council's support.

"I'm saddened to hear, but not surprised,these kind of hate things have been happening in our community. I've been a victim of it myself, as many of us have, and it's a sad, sad consequence of the elevation we've seen in the United States and certainly elements of that are coming here," the mayorsaid.

Eisenberger alsosaidracism in Canada is more subdued than it is in America, but that it is "on the rise."

Nannsaid she doesn't agree with his characterizations of racism and says it has always been in the city and the country.

The mayoralso said that standing against violent, anti-Black threatsis the city's duty.

"When good people remain silent, we end up with what we just witnessed in the United States. We can't have that. Sorry to hear it has landed on you in this very significant way ... as you rightfully point out, just making a report quietly and unassumingly isn't enough," he said.

"If we need to name and shame, we should do that because there's no room for this kind of intolerance, hate, attack."

Nann said she sincerely believes the mayor and city councilsupports her.

Somecouncillors took to social media to express their disappointment in hearing about Nann's experience.

Ward 8 Councillor John-Paul Danko said he was "fundamentally saddened" whileWard 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson thanks Nann for calling upon the city"to stand up for democracy and against those [who] dehumanize."

Nannimplored everyone, including residents, to do the same, while also declaring her ward will never take similar threats lightly.

"The Ward 3 office will practice zero tolerance.We will not serve any residents who threaten our staff or our Neighbours with hate or violence. Instead, as we did in this instance, we will report the act of hate, speak out about it and act with an even deeper commitment to democracy, accountability and justice," she said during the council meeting.

"Staying quiet about it, is not an option. Filing reports isn't enough. What we need in our city is for every resident who truly believes in solidarity, in the possibility of unity to take a stand and engage ... weneed you now more than ever."

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.