Excerpt:
The York Regional Police department should be ashamed. YRP Insp. Ricky Veerappan, who heads up the force's so-called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau, was apparently disturbed that volunteer department chaplain Rabbi Mendel Kaplan invited the controversial American commentator Pamela Geller to address a local synagogue.
Geller is well known in the United States for her criticism of Islamist ideology and her opposition to building an Islamic centre near the site of the World Trade Center.
According to reports, Veerappan didn't like the idea of her expressing such views, and, supposedly, told Kaplan his position with the department would be in question if he didn't cancel the invitation. "If he did (host Geller), then we'd have to reassess our relation with (Kaplan)," Veerappan told a reporter. "Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities."