MP Zann victim of hate calls, messages
An onslaught of hateful, intimidating online messages and phone calls over her support for increased gun legislation has left Nova Scotia MP Lenore Zann and her staff unnerved and fearful for their personal safety.
"It's been a tough couple of weeks,” said the Liberal MP for Cumberland-colchester, who lives in Truro.
“I feel anxious just walking out of my own house, and even being in my own house.”
Zann said the disturbing social media comments and phone calls and messages to her constituency office began shortly after the Trudeau government introduced a ban on assault-style guns and semi-automatic rifles, shortly after the April mass shooting in Nova Scotia.
“I had made a comment that I felt that it was good timing, that we don't need any grenade launchers and things like that in people's backyards,” she said of her overall position on the legislation.
“All of a sudden I noticed
the office was getting a lot of phone calls from angry men who were complaining about the gun ban.”
Zann said she also started seeing messages on her political Facebook page from “really angry middle-aged white guys” expressing concern about not being able to obtain semiautomatic weapons to protect themselves or fear of losing the ones they have.
“In fact, the majority of them didn't even live here,” she said, adding that they came from Alberta and other parts of the country, as well as the United States.
Zann said some of the more vulgar comments, which were brought to her attention by a friend, came from a person describing her as “a vile creature” and “a worthless piece of s--t” who repeatedly stated that he wanted her “head on a platter.”
Those posts, which have since been taken down, were eventually tracked to Truro resident Bradley Mclellan who had posted them under a pseudonym.
When contacted by Saltwire Network, Mclellan accepted responsibility for the comments and said he has since issued both public and private, personal apologies to Zann.
“This whole issue started with Lenore because she was ignoring well-worded, very calm, direct inquiries,” Mclellan said, which highlighted community concerns such as funding and infrastructure for rural communities in the name of safety, and other issues that she had seemed to care about.
Although those messages never seemed to get her attention, he said, after ”losing my temper” and posting his vulgar statements on Facebook, he did get a response from her office.