The Billy Graham “Rapid Response Team” arrived from Calgary on weekend two, walking through the crowd in their red jackets and yellow vests, praying with the demonstrators and offering “the peace of Christ.”
Down Wellington Street at the “Meeting Tent” Christian evangelist Shannon Laurent slings muffins and coffee, helps a street person find a mask so he can ride the O-Train and praises the Lord.
“It’s incredible how God has worked. It’s so amazing.”
Jesus references and Bible quotes share space alongside “F*ck Trudeau” signs. The evangelical Christian message of love and peace clashes with reports of Ottawa residents being harassed for wearing masks, houses displaying the rainbow pride flag vandalized and the sight of Confederate flags and swastikas among the demonstrators. At one booth on Wellington Street you could get buttons with the yellow Star of David, likening the plight of Jewish people in Nazi Germany to the unvaccinated.