On Thursday, hundreds of people gathered in Kelowna’s Stuart Park for an anti-vax, anti-mask rally hosted by prominent anti-restriction activist, Chris “Sky” Saccoccia.
Following the rally, Saccoccia took to social media to thank the local RCMP for their minimal presence that afternoon, and even their support.
Shout out to @KelownaRCMP true community support! A fantastic event with incredible people in one of my favorite cities in the world. #backtheblue and thank you! pic.twitter.com/YE8NmXpRJu
— Chris Sky (@chrissaccoccia1) April 23, 2021
“The only police presence that day was a couple of police officers who drove in on bikes around 5 pm when we were setting up,” he said, adding that they were not wearing masks at the time.
“They said, ‘we’re here to make sure you’re all safe and to help you fight for our freedoms.’”
Saccocia followed up the video by posting a photo of him shaking hands with an RCMP officer near the front door of the downtown Cactus Club, calling it “community solidarity.”
However, the RCMP adamantly denies his claims, saying that the photograph was taken before the protest and the officers, who were both wearing masks according to the RCMP, were there for another investigation.
“We have also spoken to our officers who were on scene yesterday during the protest downtown in Kelowna,” said the RCMP in a statement to NowMedia.
“When they were unable to appropriately socially distance, our frontline officers were wearing their masks and following the guidelines of the provincial health orders.”
The statement added that officers interacted with the self-identified organizers of the event, reminding them of the pertinent laws and order pertaining to their protest.
“The Kelowna RCMP is an impartial entity, and does not support any event that is in violation of the law, or public health orders, and we strongly discourage any actions that potentially put our community at risk,” read the statement.
“Our officers were present to ensure the safety of the public and the protestors, and to prevent confrontations.”
Saccocia, a prominent conspiracy theorist who’s vocal with a number of controversial opinions including Holocaust denial, has now left BC is making his way back across Canada.
He held rallies in Saskatchewan and Manitoba over the weekend and re-entered Ontario this morning.
