Police investigating verbal assault on girl at track meet

RCMP in Kelowna say they are investigating an incident that has gone viral where a man allegedly verbally assaulted a nine-year-old girl at a school track meet and accused her of being trans-gender.

The incident happened at the Kelowna Apple Bowl on June 8, with the girl’s mothers going public with their outrage.

Kari Starr said her daughter was competing in the shot put when a man started yelling at her, and saying “Get that boy off the field,” and made comments that she should be disqualified from the event.

Starr called the incident a “disgusting attack,” saying the man even demanded the girl’s mothers provide a birth certificate to prove she was born a female.

Starr said her daughter is a girl, was born female, and uses she/her pronouns.

RCMP say they received a number of messages from concerned citizens about the incident.

“We too share everyone’s grave concerns with discriminatory behaviour,” Const. Mike Della-Paolera, media relations officer, said.

“In response to this incident, we can confirm that the Kelowna RCMP have received a report and created an investigative file, but, due to the Privacy Act, we cannot share further details regarding the incident or the investigation at this time.”

Della-Paolera said police encourage people to be a strong voice and to show support and commitment to diversity and inclusion.

“It is important to our community to speak out against discriminatory behaviours, and research shows that social support is an important protective factor for those experiencing marginalization, racism, or discrimination. If our community takes action together, this will assist us in the ultimate goal of a diverse, inclusive and safe community for all.”

The officer said the incident, and the ongoing discussion on social media, can be difficult but there are services and programs available at Kelowna Community Resources https://kcr.ca/ should you need help.

Central Okanagan Public Schools told NowMedia the man has been identified and a process is underway to ban him from any school property or school event.