OTTAWA -- Ottawa Police say two recent hateful incidents targeting the city’s Asian community in the west-end may possibly be related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Within the last week, there has been at least two incidents involving the occupants of a grey, newer model Hyundai Elantra in the area of Viewmount Drive and Four Seasons Drive.
Police say in each incident, the occupants of the vehicle “have been approaching pedestrians of Asian descent and yelling racial slurs, obscenities and swearing at them.”
Witnesses describe the occupants in the vehicle as an older man and woman.
In a media release, the Ottawa Police Service says “these incidents are possibly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has resulted in an increase in acts and displays of prejudice, xenophobia and discrimination that has, in some areas, led to violence against Asian Canadians.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Ottawa Police Service Hate Crime Unit at 613-236-1222, ext. 5453.
