Man wearing Nazi uniform while kids went trick-or-treating was 'disturbing,' woman says
Witness says man was pushing stroller and appeared to be accompanying children who were trick-or-treating
WARNING: This story includes a picture of a swastika.
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story → wear → swastika
A Halifax-area woman says she was disturbed to see a man wearing a full Nazi uniform while trick-or-treating with children on Halloween.
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she → say → Halloween
Cole Harbour, N.S., resident Paige Hoveling told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia she was out with a group of children and adults when her son spotted the man.
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son → tell → man
"My 10-year-old said, 'Hey, mom, there's someone dressed up as a German general,'" Hoveling said.
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Hoveling → say → general
"My husband and I and the adults that we were with looked up and we went, 'No buddy, that's a Nazi.
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that → look → that
She said the man was pushing a stroller and appeared to be accompanying children who were trick-or-treating.
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who → say → children
He looked like he was wearing an eyepatch and a Nazi uniform, including a swastika armband, she said.
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she → look → armband
"If you think of a Nazi in any Hollywood movie you've seen, that's what it looked like," she said.
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she → think → what
CBC News spoke with two other residents, who didn't want to be interviewed, but who saw the man on Halloween and confirmed the photo was real.
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photo → speak → Halloween
A witness said the man was wearing a full Nazi uniform and pushing a stroller on Halloween as kids went trick-or-treating on the residential street in Cole Harbour, N.S. (Paige Hoveling)
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kids → say → Harbour
Hoveling said her group decided to stay away from the man.
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group → say → man
"It is disturbing," she said.
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she → say → ?
"I don't know if this guy thought it was a joke or if he actually believes in this, but either way, it's really disturbing to see symbols of hate like that in our community.
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it → know → community
"And we're such a small, tight-knit community here."
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She said she talked to her son afterward and explained to him why the costume was not acceptable.
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Hoveling said she searched online to try to determine if police should be called.
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But she found the legislation vague and wasn't sure if she should call the police non-emergency number.
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The federal government’s Bill C-9, also called the Combatting Hate Act, came into effect in July and makes it a crime to promote hatred against identifiable groups in public using certain terrorism-related or hate symbols.
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The law specifically targets two Nazi symbols — the swastika, also called the hakenkreuz, and the SS lightning bolts — and symbols associated with the federal government’s list of terrorist entities.
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Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus of law at Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law, told CBC News the legal definition of promoting hatred is narrow.
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definition → tell → hatred
"They make a point of saying it has to be vilification and detestation," MacKay said.
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And that is in order to protect free speech."
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that → protect → speech
"From a law point of view, it's not likely to produce either civil or criminal consequences for the parties involved."
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In an email to CBC News, the RCMP said it received a complaint about the costume on Nov. 2.
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It said determining whether a Criminal Code offence occurred would require an investigation.
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offence → say → investigation
Investigators would need to collect evidence of the "willful promotion of hatred and reach the threshold of reasonable and probable grounds."
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