Trudeau says he was hit by gravel, condemns rock throwing as ‘unacceptable’ – National | Globalnews.ca

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says he was hit by gravel thrown by protesters at a campaign stop in London, Ont., and denounces the actions as “unacceptable.”

While at a campaign stop in Montreal on Tuesday, Trudeau spoke out against people who have hurled obscenities towards him throughout the election, with the latest incident happening Monday in southern Ontario.

“Nobody should be doing their jobs under the threats of violence or acts to put them in danger. That’s absolutely unacceptable,” he said.

“That’s not how we do things in Canada, and quite frankly as I continue to campaign I am inspired by those people who continue to do the right thing in the face of anti-vaxxer mobs, who are not respecting the basic science, and the basic decency, that Canadians have rightly come to expect from each other.”

Trudeau was leaving a Labour Day campaign stop Monday when some of protesters threw handfuls of gravel and debris at him. RCMP security detail held up their hands to try and protect Trudeau from getting hit as he got on his campaign bus.

Some members of the media following the Liberal campaign were hit by the small projectiles, but were not hurt.

0:31Moment when protesters throw gravel on Trudeau in London, Ont.

Many of the protesters in London appeared angry about COVID-19 health measures and vaccination requirements, and yelled slurs and insults at Trudeau.

On Tuesday, Trudeau said he “felt some gravel” but wasn’t injured.

“Obviously, one of the goals of those mobs of anti-vaxxers is to prevent political events from happening, to prevent Canadians from being able to make an informed choice about the kind of leadership we need to move forward through this pandemic and out of it,” he said.

“They want to make their shouting and their aggression override democratic processes that have been going on for generations in this country and in other democracies around the world. We will not let them win; they will not interfere with the way this election is presenting a clear choice to Canadians.”

0:30Trudeau responds to questions on rocks being thrown at him during campaign event in London, Ont.

While speaking at a campaign stop in Toronto, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called the violent protesters “troubled people.”

“I disagree with Mr. Trudeau all the time, but it is absolutely wrong to be throwing stones. I can’t imagine that I’m saying this in 2021: don’t throw stones at people because you disagree with people,” he said.

“That is basic and that shouldn’t be happening, but these are some clearly troubled people who think it’s OK to throw stones at someone.”

Singh added that officials have to make sure efforts are made to keep campaign teams safe throughout the rest of the election.

“We’ve got to assess the security before we do an event, sadly, because of people like this who are causing a real threat to the media that comes with us on the tour, to our volunteers, to our staff, to our team,” he said.

“This can’t happen and we got to be careful that we don’t allow us to be in a situation where this happens again.”

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole also condemned the protesters’ actions “in the strongest terms possible” in a tweet Monday night, calling the incident “disgusting.”

“Political violence is never justified and our media must be free from intimidation, harassment, and violence,” O’Toole tweeted.

Trudeau has been followed by angry crowds throughout the campaign, forcing the Liberals to cancel at least one event in Bolton, Ont., last month and to postpone others.

–With files from Sean Boynton and Abigail Bimman