In an emotional press conference Wednesday, the Alberta Police Authority for Chestermere-Strathmore told media that police are investigating attacks on her personal and political Facebook pages. On Tuesday, Aheer posted on Twitter stating that her Facebook accounts had been hacked and were “being used for sexual exploitation”. Screenshots posted by Aheer on Twitter showed that Facebook posts allegedly made by hackers included child sexual exploitation content. 1/Welcome to politics! My personal and public Facebook accounts have been hacked. This is a targeted attack and I woke up to messages saying my account is being used for sexual exploitation. This is disgusting. We will find the perpetrators. pic.twitter.com/x4LqenpTud — @LeelaAheer At the press conference, Aheer thanked Chestermere and Strathmore RCMP for their quick response to her report of the incident. “To whoever perpetrated this attack on me and my family, you will not win. I will not back down,” Acher said, fighting back tears. Aheer said she will meet with the RCMP later Wednesday and the case is still being investigated. While Aheer said she doesn’t know exactly why the attacks happened, she believes they were targeted. It also said it would take precautions to prevent further hacking of its accounts, but did not specify what those measures would be.
Silence from the politicians
The attacks on Aheer’s Facebook accounts come after a Calgary woman posted recordings on Twitter of multiple abusive phone calls she received from people claiming to be working for UCP leadership candidate Danielle Smith’s campaign. Smith said on Twitter that the calls were fake and did not come from her campaign. Apart from MLA Rajan Sawhney, no other UCP leadership candidate has spoken against the alleged attacks on Aheer’s Facebook accounts. Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, said he doesn’t understand why other leadership candidates or any other politicians aren’t speaking out against cyber attacks. “It shouldn’t be difficult for anyone to condemn criminal activity,” he said. Bratt said the silence from politicians makes them complicit in the wider issue of harassment faced by many women involved in politics. “Women politicians, especially women of color, get a lot more abuse than white men,” she said.
Aheer believes the attacks were targeted
Aheer mentioned several times in the press conference how she has “outlined her principles” in recent weeks. “I will never tolerate bigotry in a government I lead and I believe these attacks on my behalf have been made by people who want to silence my voice and derail our campaign,” he said. Last Friday, the MLA spoke out against an upcoming UCP leadership debate co-organized by a pro-independence group, the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) and Rebel News, a right-wing media group. “White supremacy, homophobia and racism have been supported and encouraged for far too long in politics,” he said on Twitter. “Anyone involved in the Prosperity Project / Rebel Media Debate should be held accountable for supporting this toxic culture.” Leadership candidates Brian Jean, Todd Loewen and Smith are still attending Friday’s debate. But former ministers Travis Toews and Rebecca Schulz pulled out of the event late last week. RCMP are investigating alleged cyber attacks on Aheer’s personal and political Facebook accounts. (PabloLagarto/Shutterstock) In response to Aheer’s tweets criticizing the debate, APP issued a statement on Tuesday stating that the MLA’s “misguided defamatory comments” about the group have offended its “multi-ethnic members”. “Aheer owes an apology to those Albertans who value their individual liberties, rights and well-being, but I question whether she has the class to do so,” APP CEO Dennis Montry said in the statement. According to Bratt, it’s no coincidence that the attacks on Aheer’s account came after she spoke out against racism, white supremacy and homophobia. “There is anger in this province,” he said. Referring to the protests at the rally in Alberta and Ottawa, Bratt said there is growing anger across the country and province toward the government, and the attack on Aheer is just another example of that pattern.
