Police ticket Abbotsford woman at centre of viral littering scandal

A woman who sparked outrage and a social media furor after being filmed dumping garbage into Mill Lake in Abbotsford several times has been identified and ticketed by Abbotsford Police.

The viral videos posted earlier this week on sites like X, Reddit and Facebook quickly led Abbotsford police to a suspect, who was issued two violation tickets totalling $1,000. Police are not releasing her identity, citing privacy legislation.

The videos of the woman ignited an online racial firestorm. It was compounded by her behaviour, which appeared to be unapologetic, dismissive and argumentative when she was confronted on several occasions by a passersby who filmed her tossing garbage into the wildlife habitats.

A woman was caught on camera emptying a Dollarama bag full of garbage over the railing into Mill Lake in Abbotsford 😡 pic.twitter.com/ZhtS2t9Mzz

“These incidents understandably generated strong reactions,” Abbotsford Police Sgt. Paul Walker said in a Facebook post .

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“Our job is to objectively investigate and take action having considered all the relevant information. One of the many things we have learned over years of conducting investigations is that incidents like this are rarely as straightforward as they appear. There are often many circumstances and challenges occurring behind the scenes, not visible from a short video clip. While those things may not represent an excuse for behaviour, they may help explain or better understand what occurred.

“I also want to address some of the online commentary. While people are entitled to express their frustration about the behaviour captured, racist, discriminatory and hateful comments directed at an individual’s race, ethnicity, or background are unacceptable. Those remarks do nothing to solve the problem and they undermine the values of respect, inclusion and community Abbotsford is known for.”

Walker said the positives of the incident were what he called effective community policing, with authorities and the public working together to identify and come to solutions of illegal incidents.