Waterloo Regional Police are investigating after “White Lives Matter” posters were found in Wellesley Township, Wilmot and Kitchener.
“It’s disgusting,” said Wellesley Mayor Joe Nowak. “To see that in this community – I guess we’re just not immune to it.”
Nowak was first alerted to the poster May 27 when his wife Barb came back from her morning walk. While passing by the mailboxes, a poster containing white supremacist rhetoric caught her eye and raised alarms.
“We took action, we contacted the police and had them come out,” said Nowak.
Waterloo Regional Police responded with members of the General Investigations Unit and the Forensic Identification Unit. Police are requesting that anyone who finds such posters refrain from handling them so as not reduce the possibility of destroying evidence.
“Report them to the police immediately and we’ll have police or investigators come by,” explained WRPS public information officer Cst. Ashley Dietrich. “Then [we will] make efforts to have a forensics identification branch analyze them in efforts to identify the individuals who are placing those posters up.”
Police have not yet commented on the possibility of charges those responsible could face, but the outrage from community members has been very vocal.
While the posters and sentiment they carry are a negative one, community leaders such as Nowak say they are hoping to use this event to spark a positive dialogue on how to foster more inclusivity in the community.
“This is a very diverse community and it is becoming more diverse as the years go on and we’re stronger because of the diversity,” said Nowak. “I’d be happy to sit down at any time with individuals who’d like to discuss this further, and maybe we can come up with an action that we can take.
“This is still quite fresh in my mind,” added Nowak. “So, we’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to move forward with this.”
