Officials gave few details about the “potential threat” that led to the evacuation of Parliament and the closure of the surrounding streets for several hours on Saturday.  Police said only later in the day that their investigation had been completed and no danger to public safety was identified.
Manveer Singh and Parminder Singh say they speak openly about the arrests in order to defend their reputation – and raise questions about who gave the investigators their names and why, and how police handled the information.
“It does not make sense because I know I’m not involved in anything.  I’m proud of being a Canadian Sikh.  “I love this country, I will do everything I can to protect this country,” said Parminder Singh.
“Why am I being arrested?  Because I wear a turban and my skin is not white?  What happens?”
The two men are organizing a memorial service for the victims of the 1984 Sikh massacre in India.  The group had been allowed to gather on the Hill, but when members arrived, they were told they were not allowed to be there due to an ongoing threat in the area.
They moved to the lawn in front of the Supreme Court of Canada nearby to hold their event.
Harpreet Hansra, another rally organizer, said an officer tried to talk to him and asked him to identify Manveer Singh, who had been named one of the MCs for the event.
Minutes after the rally began, Manveer Singh said police had arrested him and told him he had “credible information” that he was linked to a serious Hill bomb threat.
“They thought I was the one who would do it.  I was shocked.  Do I gather my community here to bomb them? ”  he said, adding that police searched him, handcuffed him and took him to the police station for questioning.
He said police asked him to drop his turban while they were looking for him outside the Supreme Court.
“If I do not obey their instructions, they could do anything to me, because the threat was too great, it was a threat to the security of the national parliament.”
Parminder Singh said he was arrested shortly afterwards by Ottawa police, who told him his name was linked to an alleged Parliament bomb threat.
Ottawa police did not respond to a request for comment on the men, saying only that an investigation had been completed and no charges had been filed.
The two organizers said police also searched their cars for explosives.
The other organizers decided to end the event earlier than planned due to fears of an ongoing threat and the fact that two of their members had been arrested by police, Hansra said.
Hansra then went to the police station with two other organizers, he said.
When they were detained by the police, both men said that the police made them take off their turbans.  Manveer Singh said he was also forced to remove other religious symbols, such as a bracelet called a kara and a ritual sword known as a kirpan.
“They wanted me to untie my turban because they had to look very carefully – because I think I was the terrorist in their eyes at the time,” he said.
After being detained for some time, Parminder Singh said police had released him and apologized, adding that he had been arrested on the basis of incorrect information.
“We talked to the officers who were there and they were very clear.  They apologized profusely and said, “Sorry this happened, and we know you have nothing to do with it,” he said.
Both men arrested said police told them the information linking them to the threat came from the Canadian Border Patrol.
“They said they had no further knowledge of who or what contacted the CBSA, but the information was so detailed that it allowed them to take immediate action in Parliament,” Hansra said.
Rebecca Perdy, a spokeswoman for Canada’s Border Patrol, said in a statement Monday that the agency regularly cooperates with law enforcement to ensure border security, including information and enforcement.
The RCMP said Monday it could only confirm details of criminal investigations where charges have been filed.
Ottawa police said in a statement on Saturday that they had received information about a possible threat near the parliament building, as a result of which some surrounding roads were closed to vehicles and pedestrians.
The Parliamentary Protection Service also ordered the evacuation of Parliament Hill, issuing a warning to all members of Parliament and staff, noting that all buildings in the precinct were to be housed until further notice.
Both organizers of the rally say they are concerned about the damage done to their reputation as a result of their arrest in connection with the threat of explosives.
Although police said they were investigating and if they found nothing they would release him, Parminder Singh said they should have investigated before arresting him.
“My children, my wife and other members of the community are deeply hurt,” said Parminder Singh, calling the experience “disrespectful” and “harassing.”
He said his team started organizing these rallies in 2017, to gather Sikhs from all over Ontario and Quebec.  The events have been canceled for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Are you arresting me for a peaceful rally?  I do this almost all my life “.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 13, 2022.
—
This story was created with the financial support of Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.