The police hunt is on for a woman in a white parka who was filmed dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the start of the truckers’ Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, says Blacklocks Reporter..A January 29 Twitter video captured a young woman in a parka standing atop the Tomb yelling, “Freedom.” The woman was among an estimated 15,000 at Parliament Hill protests that day..“This incident is under investigation,” said Const. Paramjit Singh, spokesperson for the Ottawa Police Service..“No further details are available at this time.”.Police launched a manhunt for the suspect February 2, “a Caucasian woman, average build, wearing a light-coloured winter jacket” and carrying a black backpack..The National War Memorial has attracted numerous vandals in the past five years, the Commons veterans affairs committee was told Tuesday night..“It’s a shame in our view to have to fence a monument to protect it,” testified Stéphan Déry, assistant deputy minister of public works..“It’s a public place to allow more than a million people a year to pay respects to those who have given their life to make this country what it is today, so our objective is to make this site as open as possible to people to come and pay respects.”.Déry said his department documented 17 police-reported incidents at the memorial in the past five years, typically “minor graffiti and a total lack of respect,” he said..Incidents included a swastika carved into Unknown Soldier’s gravestone in 2020..Five incidents occurred since the start of the Freedom Convoy blockade on January 28, the committee was told. .“There are people who have used the monument as a public toilet,” said Déry. “Some people have danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”.“I must say the actions we’ve seen at the monument and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are disgusting,” said Liberal MP Darrell Samson (Sackville-Preston, N.S.)..“It’s very emotional to see..“Yes, there are very good people protesting, but there are people who are committing crimes and who haven’t been held responsible for their actions. It’s unacceptable.”.The veterans affairs committee was told the memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier are subject to nightly patrols at 9 p.m., 11 p.m., 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. with security camera surveillance monitored 24 hours a day..“Help me understand this,” said Conservative MP Anna Roberts (King-Vaughan, Ont.). .“If we have the security cameras on a 24-hour situation and are being monitored, do we have any idea of the individuals who vandalized the monument?”.“All that video footage is passed onto the police service for prosecution and finding who has committed this outrageous lack of respect,” replied Déry, who added: “Ultimately the policing of the site is under the jurisdiction of the Ottawa Police Service.”.The Criminal Code Section 430.4.11 prohibits mischief or vandalism at any “war memorial or cenotaph” under threat of 10 years’ imprisonment. Police in 2006 successfully identified a Montréal man and two teenagers spotted urinating on the National War Memorial on Canada Day. All charges were subsequently dropped.
