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A small protest at a London mall has drawn a big response online.
A video posted on social media showing a small group of protesters at White Oaks Mall holding a large sign that reads “Mass deportation now” has gone viral.
The eight-second clip shows the demonstrators, all of them male with their faces covered, holding the banner near the Tim Hortons in the food court while holiday shoppers pass by at the Wellington Road shopping centre.
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The video and an accompanying photo of the protesters holding the sign outside an entrance to the mall was posted on Reddit and other social media sites, where it had generated more than 500,000 views and thousands of comments as of Mnday.
The protest also drew the attention of London police.
Officers were called at 12:30 p.m., but participants left before they arrived so the call was cancelled, a police spokesperson said Monday.
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Mall security referred all inquiries about the incident to mall management. The management office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The video also was shared on Instagram by SixbuzzTV, an account with 2.4 million followers that has a history of promoting right-wing content and misinformation.
The post sparked fierce debate online, with most commenters defending the demonstrators and a few others denouncing their actions.
“Saying what we are all thinking,” user death_before_dishonour wrote.
Another user, tonilombardo, commented: “It’s sad . . . as a child of immigrant parents who worked hard to fit in. I never thought I’d say this but. Go home. Leave Canada to those who genuinely want to come here and make a good life and new beginnings, leaving behind their countries way of thinking.”
A similar protest last month at a Hamilton mall drew a rebuke from community leaders and politicians.
A photo from the Hamilton protest shows more than a dozen black-clad demonstrators holding a “Mass deportation now” sign at the Jackson Square Mall on Nov. 15.
The protests come amid rising anti-immigrant sentiment in Canada and the return to the White House of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to conduct mass deportations upon taking office in January. A recent poll by Focus Canada found 58 per cent of Canadians interviewed believe the country accepts too many immigrants, a 32 per cent increase since 2023.
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