Tweet takes aim at MPP and his parents
Police say they have cautioned a St. Catharines, Ont., man after he encouraged people on Twitter to protest outside the home of the parents of provincial lawmaker Sam Oosterhoff.
The tweet, since deleted, included Oosterhoff’s parents’ address and phone number. He said it made him fear for their safety.
But the man behind the tweet, Rob Gill, who made an unsuccessful run for city council this past year, said Monday he has no regrets about the post and said it was police — not him — who overstepped their bounds by coming to his home.
On Dec. 21, Gill tweeted: “This Christmas, let’s protest @samoosterhoff and his bigot, misogynistic and homophobic personality & upbringing.” He then encouraged people to “protest at his parents’ home” or “give them a call.”
Earlier in the month, Gill said he “couldn’t wait to bring a big #GAY #Pride protest” to Oosterhoff’s “office, family events, wedding, etc” after Oosterhoff posted pictures of his attendance at a Christmas celebration hosted by evangelical leader Charles Mcvety, president of the Canada Christian College and a staunch social conservative.
Niagara Regional Police confirmed in a statement Monday they received a complaint on Dec. 28 that someone’s home address had been shared on social media, a practice known as doxxing. “Officers attempted to speak with the author of the social media posts via telephone, but were unsuccessful,” the statement said.
The following day, an officer went to the person’s home to “caution them regarding sharing personal information on social media which could be perceived as harassing.”
“With the prevalence of social media, when possible, our officers inform and educate the public on what could be potentially deemed criminal in nature.” No charges were filed.
In a statement, Oosterhoff, 21, Progressive Conservative MPP for Niagara West, said he values free speech and welcomes all forms of feedback from his constituents. “In this case, however, an individual posted my parents’ home address and phone number on Twitter and using disparaging language, encouraged the public to protest them. Fearing for my family’s safety I contacted the police. The police followed their own protocol and I am grateful for their dedication to our community.”
Gill, who says he found Oosterhoff’s parents’ contact information via an online search, told the Post it was “ludicrous” for police to come to his home since he had not committed a crime, adding: “If (Oosterhoff) can’t handle criticism online maybe politics isn’t the right job for you.”
Gill said he now regrets deleting the post in question and maintains that the officer who visited him told him “I did nothing wrong and I was never cautioned.”
But an email sent by the officer, Alex Shah, to Oosterhoff following Shah’s visit with Gill suggests otherwise. It states: “I did advise (Gill) to avoid communicating with your (sic) via social media which he understood. If he continues to contact you with any threatening messages, disclosing personal information, or attending your residence, please give us a call back to document for future action(s).”
Peter Gill, a retired inspector with the Niagara Regional Police who has no relation to Rob Gill, questioned why police needed to make a house visit.
“I don’t agree with the way they handled it,” he told the Post. “I’m not sure (Gill) deserves a visit from police because of something he posted on Twitter.”
That said, “I don’t think there was bad intention here by police.”
Oosterhoff, who at 19 became the youngest person elected to the Ontario legislature in 2016, has described himself as “100 per cent prolife” and decried the passage of a law later that year that gave equal parenting rights to same-sex couples as “disrespectful to mothers and fathers.” He once posted a link on Facebook that said homosexuality was a sin.
Asked Monday if he wished to respond to critics who have called him a bigot, he replied: “Hateful lies don’t deserve the dignity of a response.”
For his part, Gill said he derives no pleasure from engaging in clashes with elected officials.
“I would like politics to be boring again,” he said.
Moments later, he took to Twitter, writing that he is “eagerly awaiting to find out how the @Ontariopcparty labels my NON-CRIMINAL call to protest.”