Canadian Tourists Cancel Trip to RI In Response to Central Falls Wyatt Incident

Canadian Tourists Cancel Trip to RI In Response to Central Falls Wyatt Incident

One of Rhode Island’s top tourism leaders says that a Canadian family notified the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau (PWCVB) to say that they are canceling their vacation in Rhode Island in response to the Central Falls Wyatt Detention Center incident.

PWCVB President Kristen Adamo took to Twitter to say that a family who was planning to visit Rhode Island this summer reached out to PWCVB to explain why they canceled, as they were offended and did not want to travel to the state.

Each year, Commerce Rhode Island and the PWCVB spend millions in the United States and overseas encouraging travelers to visit Rhode Island for business or leisure vacation. 

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Response to Wyatt

“Got an email from a Canadian man yesterday canceling his vacation in R.I. b/c of what happened at the Detention Center. This is my response. Wasn’t going to post b/c it’s a little “show off-y” but saw the story has gone int’l & this should not be how the world thinks of us," Adamo Tweeted on Saturday.

In her response to the Canadian family, Adamo wrote, “I understand your dismay and personally agree with you. That something like this could happen in Rhode Island is particularly disturbing [the driver running into the protestors] to me,” wrote Adamo to the family.

“Our state and our city were founded on the notion of personal freedom and many believe Providence to be the birthplace of free speech in America. If you would like to reconsider your decision, I would be happy to arrange for your family to learn more about our city and its long history of tolerance and acceptance. I’ll also add some of our famous Del’s Lemonade,” Adamo wrote.

“I would hate for you to miss out on our beautiful statute and our wonderful people. While the actions of those people certainly do reflect poorly on us, I assure you that they do not reflect the majority of our citizenry. I hope you will reconsider,” concluded Adamo.

In a follow-up email to GoLocal, Adamo emailed, “That’s the only response to that issue I have gotten. We occasionally get emails from people who are displeased with the city’s support of its LGBT community but I don’t typically answer those.”

On Friday, it was announced that Captain Thomas Woodworth has resigned from his position at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility -- after driving his pick-up truck into protesters outside the facility this week. 

The incident, which occurred on August Wednesday night, remains under active investigation by the Rhode Island State Police and under internal investigation by the Wyatt.

A vigil at the Wyatt Detention Center turned into a chaotic scene when the pickup truck came close to hitting protesters.

That sparked a conflict between protestors and guards and Central Falls Police.

Pepper spray was deployed -- with reports of multiple injuries.