The Ottawa Police Service Hate and Bias Crime Unit is investigating after home security footage posted online sparked strong reaction from the community.
The video shows two people, a man, and a woman, hurling racist, anti-Asian comments from a driveway adjacent to a South Korean family’s Barrhaven home before throwing eggs at the house.
It happened on Maynooth Court, in a new development in Barrhaven earlier this month, but people in the area say this is not the first altercation involving these neighbours.
“I’ve heard instances of people throwing used condoms on their roof and on the side of their house and stuff like that,” said Nish Yogasingam.
“There is a bio-medical hazard there when people do that, so I’m surprised that the police didn’t respond to that. That should elicit a response I think.”
Residents in the area tell CTV News it’s generally a quiet neighbourhood and most people are respectful and welcoming.
But this latest situation has some on edge.
“For it to happen in this type of neighbourhood, it’s a new development, a lot of young families here too, so it’s just shocking,” said Yogasingam.
“It’s stressful because everybody in our neighbourhood is scared to deal with them,” said Amna Saeed, a friend and neighbour of the family.
“We’re like ‘what if they start doing that to us?’ We did stand up with them, so we were scared like, ‘OK if they see where we live, then they’ll start doing it to us.'”
CTV News knocked on the door of the alleged vandals’ home and a woman came to the glass to see who was there, but no one came outside to answer questions.
In the meantime, the community is hoping to see action from police.
“All the time they open the windows and start screaming ‘Oh you Asians, go back to your home! Go back to your country!’ and I don’t know why they would do that because this family is really sweet. They’re very polite people,” said Saeed.
“It’s scary. We want a peaceful neighbourhood….
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