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Alleged lewd comment from person at Yellow Vest protest angers Lacombe woman

Amber Maetche says the comment was made during a women’s march in Red Deer Saturday
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Amber Maetche, of Lacombe, holds up the sign she carried during a march in celebration of International Women’s Day in Red Deer Saturday. Contributed photo

An alleged lewd comment from someone at the Yellow Vest protest in downtown Red Deer has angered a Lacombe woman who was part of a march celebrating International Women’s Day.

Amber Maetche, 24, was one of the 80 or so people taking part in the march Saturday morning.

Maetche claims while walking by members of the Yellow Vest protest, which has gathered at City Hall on Saturdays since late last year, one person said, “Rope them and grope them,” directed towards the marchers.

“When we ended the march … I was talking about it with a few of my friends that were there and they all heard him say that as well,” she said.

READ MORE: Nearly 100 people march for women in Red Deer

Maetche’s fiancee, Jordan Galloway, picked her up in his vehicle and they started driving back to Lacombe.

On the way north, they drove past the Yellow Vesters. The couple pulled over their vehicle so Maetche could hold up her sign, which said “equality for all,” and question them about the alleged comment.

“I asked who said ‘rope them and grope them.’ It’s so disrespectful, I wanted to hold someone accountable and no one cared. They just didn’t want to be a part of it.

“I feel like there are still a lot of racist and sexist people around here. People don’t want to be held accountable for their actions,” said Maetche.

The central Alberta woman said she has “no respect” for the Yellow Vest movement after this alleged incident.

“I want people to know it’s not OK to treat any group of people like that, regardless of what you’re protesting,” she said.

Galloway, 27, said he was “disappointed” to hear about the alleged comment.

“It’s coming from a guy who’s bullying other adults on the street, claiming it’s some kind of political movement. It’s sad that I’m seeing that in central Alberta.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure what the Yellow Vest movement is protesting, but people can absolutely have legitimate reasons to not be fans of the government right now. But that’s not what this guy was about. He wasn’t standing up for Canada when he was talking about ‘roping and groping’ women,” he said.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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