Local doctor and OCDSB trustee continues to be target of hate, threats
Posted Jan 12, 2023 09:30:00 PM.
Editor's note: Some of the language used in this story is offensive and sensitive in nature.
One local doctor and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) trustee continues to see hate and threats for her work with COVID-19 vaccines while being an advocate for public health measures.
Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, a member of Ottawa's Jewish community, told The Sam Laprade Show on Jan. 11 that she received hate messages as she celebrated Hanukkah with her family.
“Some of the messages said that my family should be burned alive and that I should have to watch people torturing my children,” she said. “All of it is to made to try and rile me up and upset me. I have been yelled at and harassed by local people and I don't know that they are not the ones sending me these messages.”
Dr. Kaplan-Myrth said she has received these anti-Semetic, threatening and hateful messages to her personal and OCDSB email accounts.
She is calling on the federal government to put a mechanism in place to trace people behind emails as on Jan. 11 alone, she reported six different messages she received to Proton Mail, an end-to-end encrypted email service founded in 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The latest spat really started in November after our mask mandate meeting at the board,” she said. “And it really hasn't finished and I have received really horrible, threatening messages.”
She said the Ottawa Police Service continues to investigate, adding there are a number of arrest warrants out for people who have been identified for sending her threatening messages, but none have been arrested.
She continues to speak out in hopes of fostering change to how these types of situations are handled.
Listen to the full interview with Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth below:
