A man who helped organize an anti-Islamophobia rally this past weekend says he has faced harassment as a result, including calls to his employer.
Omar Kinnarath founded FF1 – Fascist Free Treaty 1, which held a counter-rally at city hall on Saturday in response to a protest of M-103, a motion in the House of Commons condemning Islamophobia.
The number of people attending the counter-protest vastly outnumbered those who came for the original rally, with hundreds of people showing up.
After the rally, Kinnarath said he started getting hate messages on Facebook.
“It wasn’t even intelligent hate, it was just stupid stuff, so I didn’t worry too much,” he said.
That changed when Kinnarath got a call from his employer. A meme appeared online with Kinnarath’s picture and the name of the business where he works.
“My boss called me and told me that people were bombarding him with voice messages, saying that they weren’t going to do business with him,” he said.
READ MORE: Anti-Islamophobia rally draws hundreds to Winnipeg City Hall
Despite the attacks, Kinnarath said his employer supports him.
“At the end of the day, my boss just laughed it off,” he said.
Kinnarath said other people reported the meme with his picture to Facebook and Twitter, and that it has been removed. Still, he said he is considering taking legal action.
“It just sucks that my employer had to come into this. I’m good with dealing with attacks all day.”
