Professor hopeful hate-crime charge will deter others, despite death of accused
'Of course, it’s tragic when anyone passes away and very said, I think, in this case,' LGBTQ advocate says
A rare hate-crimes court case in Edmonton is over but the complainants may not have the kind of closure they were hoping for.
The man charged with wilful promotion of hatred for offensive language he used on his blog, The Baconfat Papers, died of a stroke July 4, one of the complainants confirmed Wednesday.
The Edmonton police hate crimes unit charged Barry Winters this spring after receiving complaints about his blog from LGBTQ advocates, including Kris Wells, the faculty director of the University of Alberta's Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services.
- Edmonton police charge blogger with hate crime against prof
- 'Nobody was safe from it': Edmonton blogger charged with rare hate crime
- Rise in reported hate crimes in Alberta no surprise to many
"Of course, it's tragic when anyone passes away and very sad, I think, in this case," Wells told CBC News.
"I don't think there's any resolution," Wells said. "This person hasn't been held accountable; only in the sense of karma, perhaps, if you believe in that — the universe taking care of things on its own terms."
Even though there will be no court hearing or decision, Wells is hopeful the nature of the charge will act as a deterrent to others using racist, homophobic or sexist language.
"When you cross that line from free speech to hate speech, there will be consequences. That's probably the most important message out of these charges."
Wells said he was shocked at the "hateful and horrific nature of the comments," when he read Winters's blog over two years ago. Wells was one of several people targeted with violent threats.
"I'm used to lots of issues being directed my way because of the work that I do and in the LGBTQ community, but this really was beyond any bounds of acceptability."
Wells acknowledged that the threshold is high for police to lay hate-crime charges, but he's hoping more people will report to police if they suspect someone's behaviour falls under that part of the Criminal Code.
Wells said only one in 10 hate crimes is reported in Canada.
Statistics Canada data show the rate of hate crimes in Alberta rose 39 per cent in 2015, compared to a five-per-cent rise nationally.
The Alberta Justice and Solicitor General office said the charge against Winters will be stayed before Aug. 4, which was to be Winters's next court appearance.
'Nobody was safe from it': Edmonton blogger charged with rare hate crime targeted individuals across Canada
Police say Barry Winters, 62, made derogatory remarks about race, gender, politics
Blogs that led to a rare charge of promoting hatred were more extreme than anything he's ever seen before, says an Edmonton police investigator.
"I've never seen such extreme hatred from an individual," said Edmonton police Sgt. Gary Willits. "He just kept spewing and nobody was safe from it.
"He literally in some of these blogs was saying to kill people."
After an investigation of more than a year, Edmonton police confirmed Wednesday a CBC News report a day earlier that revealed Barry Winters, 62, was charged with wilful promotion of hatred on a blog called The Baconfat Papers and other blogs between 2014 and 2016. But police say there's reason to believe the posts date back at least two years earlier.
- Edmonton police charge blogger with hate crime against prof
- Rise in reported hate crimes in Alberta no surprise to many
Copies of the blog submitted for evidence by one of many complainants in the case show the blogger repeatedly made derogatory comments about numerous individuals across the country, including a number of well-known politicians and LGBTQ advocates in Edmonton.
The remarks don't exclusively target one particular group, but focus on various factors, including race, gender, sexual orientation and culture. Others attack individual politicians in various levels of government.
Willits said it's possible some people still don't know they were targeted in the blog posts.
Complainants hurt, scared
Glenn Canning, based in Toronto, said there were dozens of posts on Winters' blog between 2014 and 2016 about his daughter, Rehtaeh Parsons. She committed suicide after she was sexually abused by a group of teenage boys at a party in Halifax in 2013.
Canning said he discovered his daughter and his family were the subject of the blog posts after someone contacted him and told him about them.
It just broke my bloody heart in half to read that.
- Rehtaeh Parsons 's father Glen Canning
The blogs that focused on Rehtaeh were "just disgusting and sick," Canning said.
"It just broke my bloody heart in half to read that. It was cruel and it is even crueller to know that the guy did it for no other reason than he enjoyed hurting somebody."
Canning said he was in touch with police over the past year after they opened the investigation. He's glad police have finally laid a charge.
"I've cried over this," Canning said. "When it happens to you over a very personal thing, it affects you pretty badly."
Marni Panas speaks to reporters about how she felt when she discovered blog posts targeting her. (Scott Neufeld/CBC)
Marni Panas, an Edmonton-based LGBTQ advocate, said she was appalled when she stumbled across posts on a blog suggesting she move to a country where transgender women, like herself, are persecuted.
You don't know who's on the other end of these keyboards.- Marni Panas
"You don't know who's on the other end of these keyboards.You don't know what they're capable of and that instills a real fear," said Panas, who notified police in 2016.
Panas said she has experienced online hateful comments before, but said it stood out that the blogger in this instance was from the same city.
She said she'd never met the the blogger, to her knowledge, but wondered what would happen if she did.
Exhausting investigation
Willits said police began the investigation in early 2016, after they received complaints about the blog posts. Collecting the evidence was time-consuming and complicated, he said, because patterns of hatred, threats and harm had to be documented meticulously.
Willits said stating an opinion, a personal dislike, of something or someone, is not the same as "intruding on others" and "uttering threats."
The charge Winters faces is rare. Alberta Justice said in an email that province-wide, that type of charge has only been laid on three other occasions since 2011.
Edmonton police had to seek approval from the attorney general to charge the blogger, who police say had a growing following numbering into the thousands.
The posts were filled with derogatory words and "dehumanized scorn" toward people and identifiable groups, Willits said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-police-lgbtq-hate-blogger-kris-wells-1.4158528
Edmonton police charge blogger with hate crime against prof
'It made me concerned for my own safety,' said Kris Wells, one of the LGBTQ advocates allegedly targeted
Edmonton police have charged a local blogger with a hate crime for allegedly targeting some local well-known LGBTQ advocates in a series of online posts, CBC News has learned.
Court records show police have charged Barry Winters, 62, with wilful promotion of hatred in ongoing posts for his blog The Baconfat Papers over a two-year period ending Dec. 31, 2016.
The charge is the result of a lengthy investigation after Kris Wells, professor and director of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services at the University of Alberta, and at least one other LGBTQ advocate, complained more than a year ago.
As an advocate for human rights, Wells said he is regularly harassed by phone and online.
"But this particular kind of message really did cross the line and targeted me personally," he said in an interview. "It made me concerned for my own safety."
- No charges laid after Edmonton hate-crime investigation into man with noose on LRT platform
-
Edmonton police threaten charges for distributing anti-Islam flyers
Over the past year there have been several high-profile investigations by the Edmonton Police Service's hate crimes detail but the threshold is high to lay a hate-related charge.
But Marni Panas, another well-known activist, said when she first stumbled upon the blog in May 2016 she feared for her personal safety and decided to report it.
Marni Panas said the Edmonton charge is a reminder to all communities to report hate-based incidents. (Submitted by Marni Panas)
Panas said she worries her complaint will make her more of a target "but yet if we remain silent, words have a way of turning into action. And so when we see it we must point it out and talk about it and report it."
Panas said she was emotional when police called her two weeks ago to inform her of the charge.
"They took it incredibly seriously and clearly they took the due diligence that they needed to find grounds to charge this man," said Panas. "It just reinforces how important our police service is, and how actively engaged they are in trying to stop hate. And a reminder to the rest of community, all communities, that when you see something you report it."
The Alberta Hate Crimes Committee advocacy group Tuesday put out a news release expressing concern about the most recent data from Statistics Canada showing that, overall in Alberta, hate incidents were up by 39 per cent in 2015, climbing from 139 to 193, compared to a five per cent rise nationally.
The Alberta Muslim Public Affairs Council, which tracks Islamophobic-related incidents, says members are seeing an upsurge.
When we see it we must point it out and talk about it and report it
- Marni Panas, advocate
"It seems in the age of Trump that some people feel more and more emboldened to spew this hateful rhetoric and they're going to be held accountable," said Wells, singling out those "hiding behind keyboards" to send hateful messages.
"I think that's the key message that comes out of this case with the Edmonton Police Service — that you cannot hide if you're going to promote hate," said Wells.
EPS declined comment on the charge. But a police spokesperson said the issue will be discussed Wednesday at a news conference planned to talk about hate crimes.
Wells said he doesn't favour stifling free and fair speech and respects differences of opinion expressed through constructive conversations. "But no one should have to experience this level of victimization and trauma," he added.
Hate incidents don't just target the individual but also send a message that tells the wider community they don't belong and "they're not safe here," he said.
Lewd, homophobic flyers target Eggen, Wells
In another case involving Wells, Education Minister David Eggen's department has made a complaint to police after the distribution in his Edmonton riding of lewd, defamatory, and homophobic flyers.
Homophobic and defamatory flyers were recently distributed in Education Minister David Eggen's riding. (CBC)
"These images are highly inappropriate for children and I can't begin to imagine why someone would deem it reasonable to distribute them publicly," wrote Eggen in a statement. "My understanding is this matter has been turned over to the police."
The pamphlet also notes that a government-funded website, overseen by Wells' organization and meant to support students who belong to gay-straight alliances, was forced to remove some online links in March after complaints from Edmonton blogger Theresa Ng.
CBC requested comment through the email address provided at the bottom of the pamphlet but received no response.
Pride complaints
Meanwhile, several incidents that occurred during last weekend's Pride celebrations in Edmonton have also been reported to police, including a rainbow flag cut down at an Edmonton high school. Police confirmed alleged harassment of some revellers caught on video are being looked at by hate crime investigators.
But Wells said "the love and energy" at the Pride festival "far outweighs the small-minded actions of hate and homophobia" in the community.
"We we will not be afraid, we will not hide away," said Wells. "In many cases these hateful responses only embolden us where we can turn this hurt to help ... and a force for building inclusive communities all across our province and country."
Wilfully promoting hatred carries a maximum penalty of up to two years in prison. Winters appeared in court June 9 but no further court appearances have been scheduled.
with files from Kelly Banks
Journalist charged with "hate motivated" crime for criticizing Islam
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/kevin-johnston-hate-crime-1.4219185
Man tied to $1K reward for videos of Muslim students praying charged with hate crime
Kevin J. Johnston released on bail, set to appear in court again in September
Peel Regional Police have charged a Mississauga, Ont., man, who earlier this year posted a YouTube video offering a $1,000 reward for recordings of Muslim students during prayer, with a hate crime in connection with "numerous incidents reported to police."
Kevin J. Johnston, 45, was arrested Monday and charged with one count of wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group under the Criminal Code Section 319 (2). The charge follows "concerns over information published on various social media sites," police said.
The investigation took place over a five-month period, said Sgt. Josh Colley, and wasn't tied to one specific incident but rather "multiple incidents that the investigators were looking at."
- Video offering $1K for recordings of Muslim students ignites fears
- Why this Mississauga mom fears for her son's safety at school
"The group that was targeted was the Muslim community," Colley said, adding the incident "affects us all."
Earlier this year, Johnston, who runs an online publication called Freedom Report, posted a YouTube video offering a $1,000 reward for recordings of Muslim students at Peel Region schools "spewing hate speech during Friday prayers."
Spreading anxiety
The video sparked concern among Muslim families and led the Peel District School Board, which serves Mississauga, and the Peel Region communities of Brampton and Caledon, to issue a memo to its administrators, cautioning them to be "extra vigilant" and reminding them that personal recording devices can only be used in schools for educational purposes, as directed by staff.
"It's not a private message that he was conveying, it was a public message ... Anyone could hear, understand the messaging, so that's where the communicating hateful messages comes into play," Colley told CBC Toronto.
University of Toronto Mississauga student Nour Alideeb says Johnston's video left her horrified.
"I was scared, not for myself in particular, but for my brothers and sisters who are visibly Muslim who are going to these spaces to pray... This is really something that is our right and we shouldn't be afraid."
The question Alideeb has now is why charges weren't laid sooner.
University
of Toronto student Nour Alideeb says that when Johnston's video calling
for a bounty on recordings of Muslim students praying emerged, it had a
"domino effect" of fear among students. (CBC)
"We claim that we are multicultural and we claim that we protect everybody and we thrive off our diversity, but the actions don't follow up with the words that folks are saying," she said. "Why does it take so long for us to take action on things that we know are wrong?"
Mississauga, Ont., Imam Ibrahim Hindy was one of those who helped to develop the current policy around Friday prayers in Peel schools. He said he hopes the charge against Johnston will deter others from acting in a hateful manner.
"It just takes one person to hear these types of hate-filled rhetoric and turn it into action and end lives," he told CBC News on Monday.
Mississauga
Imam Ibrahim Hindy was one of those who helped to develop the current
policy around Friday prayers in Peel Region schools. He says he hopes
the charge against Johnston will help deter others from acting in a
hateful manner. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)
Hindy said recent anti-Muslim incidents in the area have spurred such a sense of anxiety and fear among students and parents in the community that some have considered leaving the school system altogether.
"For sure there are people who have told me they're going to take their kids out of school, they prefer to home school them or put them in a private school, because they felt like this is one step away from violence," he said.
Twitter account suspended
For his part, Johnston denies any criminal wrongdoing.
"There was no real crime committed," he said in an email to CBC Toronto Monday, adding that he will continue to fight against M-103, the non-binding motion condemning Islamophobia and religious discrimination, which passed in the House of Commons in March.
Johnston appeared in court earlier in the day and has since been released on bail. His next court date is set for September.
Just days before being charged, Johnston posted a video saying his Twitter and YouTube accounts had been suspended and that he is now operating under different accounts.
"Yes, you heard correctly. My YouTube channel was taken down," Johnston said in a video posted on the YouTube channel "Freedom Report" on July 18th.
The self-professed free speech advocate goes on to say he has no choice but to block those on Twitter who criticize him so that his new account is not flagged.
"I hate the idea in any way that I have to censor my opponents and my enemies," Johnston said.
"If they can't see what's on my Twitter account, they can't register complaints," he said. "That's the only reason … I'm sorry I have to do it."
Hate crime cases prosecuted 'vigorously'
In order for a hate crime charge to be laid, the province's attorney general must provide consent.
Last year, 19 of 59 reported hate/bias incidents in Peel Region resulted in charges. In 2015, the number of incidents ending in charges was 15 of 63.
Last month, a student confronted an anti-Islam protester at
John Fraser Secondary School in Mississauga. There were no arrests.
(YouTube)
In a statement to CBC News, the office of Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said it would be inappropriate to comment on the case against Johnston specifically, but said the government takes allegations of hate crimes very seriously.
"In a multicultural and inclusive province like Ontario, the promotion of hatred stands in direct opposition to our fundamental values of equality and diversity," Naqvi said in a statement.
"Hate crimes are, by their very nature, serious offences, because their impacts can be devastating, spreading from the individual, through the social fabric of our communities and society as a whole," the statement said. "Ontario prosecutes these cases vigorously, where there is reasonable prospect of conviction."
Hindy agrees on the risks to society.
"Hatred does exist, it's alive and well in Canada and we have to be vigilant in terms of stopping it, because it can get out of hand."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Lauren Pelley, Natalie Nanowski
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/muslim-students-praying-video-peel-1.4048991
Video offering $1K reward for recordings of Muslim students praying ignites fears
Police in Peel Region investigating; not ruling out possibility of criminal element
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/1014/306/muslim-prayer-video-bounty-charles-310317.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
The National: Video offering $1K reward for recordings of Muslim students praying ignites fears
4 years agoStaff with the Peel District School Board in southern Ontario are being cautioned to be "extra vigilant" about a video making the rounds online offering a $1,000 reward for recordings of Muslim students in any school in the region "spewing hate speech during Friday prayers."
The nearly 3½-minute video was posted to YouTube on March 29 by Kevin J. Johnston of the online publication Freedom Report, which bills itself as "Canada's best and most honest news outlet." Johnston previously faced off against Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie in an attempt to stop the development of the Meadowvale Islamic Centre.
-
'How dare you say these hateful things?' Woman takes on Islamophobia at school board meeting
-
Pages torn from Qur'an at Peel school board meeting over prayer issue
-
Contentious Mississauga mosque re-zoning approved at council
To receive the cash, Johnston explains, the video must identify the student by face and name and be submitted within 24 hours of being filmed. The video must contain hate speech, which he says will be found through a team of translators, and the rights for the video must be turned over to Johnston. If the submission fits the criteria, he promises to let the recipient wear a mask while receiving his or her reward.
Johnston told CBC News his motivation for video submissions is due to his personal belief that public schools are "supposed to be secular — we want our schools to focus on education only."
Prayers in school not new
In response to the video, the Peel District School Board, which serves Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon, issued a memo to its administrators, reminding them that personal [recording] devices can only be used in schools for educational purposes, as directed by staff.
"It is important that you make staff who supervise Friday prayer at your school aware of this challenge and ask them to be extra vigilant in their supervision and that this invasion of privacy is not appropriate," states the memo, sent to CBC Toronto by the board's director of communications, Brian Woodland.
Muslim students have observed congregational prayers, known as jumu'ah, inside Peel schools in some form for close to 20 years. But the issue has been a flashpoint since September, when the board sought to review whether students should be allowed to write their own sermons or instead be required to use one of six pre-written sermons.
A
week ago, tensions at a Peel District School Board meeting boiled over
when a woman confronted a man ripping pages out of a Qur'an and throwing
them on the floor. (CBC)
In January, students were given the green light to continue with the previously existing policy, with prayers being supervised by a staff member. The sermons are delivered in English, except for verses quoted directly from the Qur'an, and would continue to be supervised by a staff member, according to the updated policy.
Incentive to break privacy laws, board says
Johnston alleges that would allow hate speech, specifically anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish sentiment, to go unchecked by staff who understand Arabic and identify as Muslim. He added that he does not have any evidence of students who have engaged in hate speech.
Ibrahim Hindy, an imam who helped to develop the current policy, says those fears are unfounded, that non-Muslim teachers supervise prayers in many schools and that all teachers, non-Muslim and Muslim alike, are bound by a code of ethics.
Ibrahim Hindy, an imam at Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre,
helped to develop the current policy at the Peel District School Board.
(Michael Charles Cole/CBC)
"Every teacher has ethics that they need to follow as teachers," he said. "They have to, if they hear something anti-Semitic or bigoted in the hallways of the school, in the playground of the school, even if it's in a Friday prayer, they have to step forward, they have to discipline that child."
In an email, board spokesperson Woodland said the offer in the video tries to provide an incentive for students to breach privacy laws.
That's a concern Hindy said several students have raised with him.
"This is driving a ton of anxiety and causing a lot of the students to feel really threatened in their school in the place that's supposed to be really safe for them, a place where they can learn, a place where they can be open … and instead of that it's kind of putting a target on them.
Police are investigating
"If they take the videos of students and they try to ascribe something to them, throw it out on the internet, what's going to happen? Are these students going to be attacked like what happened in Quebec City? Are schools going to be under attack? It's incredibly irresponsible. It's unconscionable."
We have a lot of political correctness in Canada and that's why we kind of have this illusion of Canada being this elite and tolerant and perfect place.
- Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui, McMaster University
In the video, Johnston urges people to conceal cameras to get footage to him. "Whatever it takes, get that to me," he says.
"I am offering $1,000 of my own money, cash reward, for any of you out there that can sneak a camera into one of these mosque-eterias or mosque-stages or mosque-gymnasiums and get me the footage."
Peel police confirm that they are investigating — and while it's too soon to tell if the video has any criminal element, they aren't ruling out the possibility.
"We are treating these incidents very seriously and have allocated the appropriate resources as required," police said in a statement.
For the board's part, Woodland said it will not provide further comment on Johnston, saying doing so "simply provides him with attention for his campaign.
"In fact if you do a story, it will achieve that goal of his," he added.
Hindy says to some extent he shares that feeling.
![](https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/1012/355/islamophobia-canada-invu-siddiqui-310317.jpg?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:* 510w")
Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui speaks with Wendy Mesley about Islamophobia in Canada
4 years ago"But I think that these groups are gaining momentum, so there's definitely a responsibility that we have to confront them openly so that people can see the depravity and how low they're willing to go in spreading their hatred that they don't even care about targeting students."
Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui, a researcher on immigration and racism at Hamilton's McMaster University and spokesperson for the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, agrees a frank conversation is necessary.
"In a way I do feel like it's important that this person's views were expressed in a way where he wasn't hiding behind a keyboard. We have a lot of political correctness in Canada and that's why we kind of have this illusion of Canada being this elite and tolerant and perfect place."
"If you look at the most recent M-103 fiasco that we had, so many people thought that Islamophobia didn't need to be included because it's not a thing. Well this is a perfect example of it being a thing.
"I personally believe that it's very important to bring these stories to light, so that more people can understand that we do have a problem. Because until we know that a problem exists, we can't challenge these views, we can't confront them, we can't address them. They just get swept under the rug, unfortunately."
https://www.canadaland.com/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin-johnston/
What Happens When An Anti-Muslim Internet Personality Begins To Face Consequences
Outside the Toronto Zionist Centre on Sunday, July 30, members of the far-right Jewish Defence League (JDL) wore helmets and kevlar vests; some guarded the premises with bats and batons. They were on high alert after someone on the page of their Facebook event had warned that members of Antifa (an “anti-fascist” left-wing movement) were planning to crash the meeting.
The JDL’s guest of honour that night: alt-right provocateur and anti-Islam vlogger Kevin J. Johnston, who days before had been arrested and charged under section 319(2) of the Criminal Code for “wilful promotion of hatred.”
JDL Canada’s national director Meir Weinstein introduced Johnston to the audience of about 50 people that included Rebel commentator David Menzies (who hosts a YouTube show with Johnston), a member of Gavin McInnes’s Proud Boys, and an organizer with the anti-Islam group Rise Canada.
“It was my evidence that led to charges being laid against Ernst Zundel,” said Weinstein about the infamous Holocaust denier, who would die later in the week. “He was the world’s largest purveyor and distributor of Nazi propaganda… I was fairly involved in the prosecution… But what’s going on with Kevin Johnston is outrageous.”
Weinstein asked supporters to come out and fill the room for Johnston’s court appearances.
“Hopefully the judge will not be biased, hopefully. But we have to be there, all of us, in good moral conscience, to show our support for Kevin’s right to stand against real hate — real hate, not this made-up, fictitious nonsense they’re throwing at him,” he concluded.
After the warm introduction, Johnston took the stage — but before discussing his run-in the with the hate-speech law, he had other news to announce.
“I just wanted to let you all know that in the parking lot, a gentleman came over pretending to be a fan of mine and handed over this lawsuit.”
Johnston, 45 and married with two kids, is the founder of one-man far-right media outfit Freedom Report, where he posts video rants, many of which are about what he sees as the Islamification of Mississauga (his hometown) and Canada at large. Johnston first made national headlines back at the end of March, when he offered a $1,000 reward to anyone who could provide him with recordings of Muslims in a Peel Region public school “spewing hate speech during Friday prayers.” He is also a fan of notorious conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and mimics his incendiary and hyperbolic rhetoric and mannerisms. Before getting into politics and political commentary, Johnston worked in the comedy/entertainment business.
The lawsuit was just the latest in a growing list of troubles for a man who, three days before, had told Rebel Media’s Ezra Levant that “every Muslim” would be hated by “every Canadian” if he ends up in jail for the hate-speech charge — and that that would lead to Muslims being “assaulted, beat up, perhaps even killed country-wide.”
It was an eventful week.
The Defamation Suit
“You should know that I’m under attack from every angle,” Johnston told the crowd at the JDL meeting, “and this particular lawsuit is from Kevin Metcalf, who” — he claimed — “is the unofficial photographer of the domestic terrorist organization Antifa.”
Metcalf, who works as the promotions and communications coordinator at Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), had just had Johnston served with a small-claims suit seeking $25,000 for defamation.
Here is a representative excerpt from the statement of claim, provided to CANADALAND by Metcalf’s lawyer, Stephen Ellis:
On June 27, 2017, you published an 18-minute video devoted exclusively to Mr. Metcalf entitled “Kevin Metcalf of Antifa Behaves like a Left Wing Nazi SJW Lost Child.”
For the entirety of the video, you prominently featured Mr. Metcalf’s face below a Nazi symbol and a statement which read “Antifa loves Hitler.”
During the video, you stated categorically that he is a “communist,” “a Nazi,” “an evil person,” who had “no respect.” You also stated that he is “anti-white,” “anti-Canadian,” and “supports terrorism.” Next, you stated twice that he is “a loser,” and that “the whole world knows it.”
(The full document is at the bottom.)
Metcalf had been in Ottawa to cover the poorly attended “Million Canadian March” in early June on the same day that Johnston was allegedly assaulted by Antifa in a nearby park — although, as CANADALAND previously reported, the circumstances of how the altercation began are still in question. Four people were charged, and three face trial in the fall. However, Johnston believes Metcalf was at the scene documenting the assault and that he has withheld evidence.
Metcalf maintains he was on Parliament Hill at the time, covering the march, as well as doing an interview with the CBC.
“He knows we were in Ottawa,” Metcalf says in a phone interview with CANADALAND. “He knows he saw us, or someone saw us, with a group of individuals [earlier] who were involved [in the altercation], and so everything else that has been stated about the incident has fallen into the realm of a weird political fantasy in which he is the protagonist.”
The statement of claim cites several of Johnston’s videos in which he refers to Metcalf as a “domestic terrorist,” “fascist,” and “criminal.” The lawsuit also says Johnston falsely “stated that Mr. Metcalf is ‘extremely dangerous’ and was ‘armed’ when he and his friends ‘attacked you’ in Ottawa.” In addition to monetary damages, the suit seeks the removal of relevant videos and a retraction.
At the Zionist Centre, Johnston told the crowd his own version of events, claiming that in Ottawa, Metcalf “followed me for about 28, 30 city blocks, from my really sleazy motel down to a restaurant to meet the staff of rebel.media. [Rebel host] Faith Goldy was there with another cameraman. Kevin Metcalf walks in and says, ‘Hi, racist,’ puts his camera up, films us, and runs out the door. That’s kind of strange behaviour.”
To laughter from the crowd, Johnston noted that the suit cited his calling Metcalf a “loser.”
“Simple fact-checking, I think, could’ve saved this entire hassle,” Metcalf says.
“Yeah, sure. I lost my debit card this morning. I think I lost my wallet last week. I lost a pair of eyeglasses three months ago. If he wants to call me a loser, that could be factually accurate, but that’s not why he’s being sued,” he says. “The lawsuit is about the words ‘domestic terrorist,’ the false statement of facts that I had participated and held material evidence or was party to a crime in which criminal charges were laid… the calls to attack and his supporters to call the police if they see me, reading out my work address… it’s a grab bag.”
Johnston told the crowd that he would not settle the suit but instead would “demand” a trial, “so that I can ask every single question that I wish to ask. And most of it is going to be, ‘Please name every single member of Antifa that you know.’”
Asked about the Ottawa altercation, Johnston asserted to CANADALAND that he was attacked by “46 members of Antifa,” “at least 25” of whom “were kicking at” him, and that he “got hit with three flag poles that I can remember, at least.”
“And I had to turtle, get down and protect my head, protect my genitals, but they just kept on me.”
CANADALAND asked Johnston for pictures he said he had received from a photographer also covering Antifa, which he claims corroborate his story about Metcalf being a witness to the assault, but he didn’t answer our follow-up queries — except to say he encouraged us to get a copy of the suit and “spread it around.” (Johnston’s cameraman’s camera, which apparently had recordings leading up to the attack in the park, was stolen during the fight.)
The Growing List of Troubles
Johnston told the crowd at the JDL meeting that on the preceding Friday, he’d been served with yet another “document.”
“I’ve received two death threats from two very interesting individuals. They were Arab, you could tell. The beards were long hair at the bottom, nothing here,” he said, pointing above his upper lip. “Both were on bikes, both told me I was a dead man, both sped off the street. Fifteen minutes later, a processor worker shows up, telling me I’m in big trouble, hands me over a letter… and the processor takes off, but I couldn’t get a picture of his licence plate because it was covered in cardboard.”
He explained that it was a cease-and-desist notice but didn’t elaborate on the nature of the demand.
On top of being charged with hate speech, given an apparent cease-and-desist letter, and served a lawsuit by Metcalf all in a week’s time, Johnston is also — according to his website — facing a $1 million countersuit filed “by child molesters” earlier this year. Johnston’s Twitter account, @KevinTheJackal (which he said had “about 16,000 followers”), was recently banned, his Facebook account was suspended for the sixth time, and earlier in the month his YouTube account was disabled. (It’s back up for now, but he believes he’ll soon be permanently banned from that platform, too.) Johnston blames the suspensions and bans on the supposed left-wing bias of social-media sites. He also claims to be receiving death threats on a regular basis.
“[My] family is the only thing I’m worried about; I’m never worried about me,” he said.
Metcalf tells CANADALAND he hopes that his lawsuit will be a lesson to other right-wing organizations that he believes play fast and loose with the truth.
“There’s a general collection of right-wing groups that are emboldened by success… They don’t think twice about what they’re saying, what the consequences of what they are saying are, because there have not been any consequences,” says Metcalf. “And so winning court judgments against them for defamation, it demonstrates that these things are unacceptable. You can’t do this.”
Ellis, Metcalf’s lawyer, took on the suit on a contingency basis.
“I took this case on because we have to be creative when tackling the problem of the rise of the racist right,” says Ellis in an email. “Johnston, and others like Sandra Solomon, the Soldiers of Odin, the Proud Boys, Pegida, the Jewish Defence League, and the myriad other racist outfits naturally have to be confronted directly — on the streets. Another tool we have can be the legal one.
“We have to throw ourselves wholeheartedly against this phenomenon. It threatens our collective safety and well-being.”
The Hate-Speech Charge
Two weeks ago, upon being released from police custody after questioning, Johnston took to his camera to record a video titled “Kevin J Johnston Arrested Under Motion M103,” in which he asked for donations to help pay for an estimated $25,000 to $35,000 in legal fees and claimed he was being charged under House of Commons motion M-103.
“Yes, all the left-wing media could not wait to tell you all that I was arrested today under the future proviso of M-103. That is correct. The anti-blasphemy law, the anti-Islamophobia law is coming to Canada next year. I am the first Canadian to suffer arrest under its tenure.”
The statement was incorrect. M-103 is not a law, but a motion that condemned Islamophobia and called for the Canadian government to review ways to fight hatred towards Islam and Muslims through a parliamentary committee. Johnston was in fact charged by Peel Regional Police under a longstanding and unrelated provision of the Criminal Code concerning hate speech, following a “lengthy investigation” into videos he posted on social media.
CANADALAND asked Johnston to clarify his false statement.
“I said it was a precursor to what’s coming. It’s not actually M-103 but an M-103-esque law that’s in place. The point I’m going to make with that is when M-103 becomes a law under Justin [Trudeau next year], which we know he’ll push for… there will be at least 10,000 arrests every month — I’m sure — countrywide because they’re going to go to town on this. The only way to defeat it, at that point when it’s law, is to point out that the courthouses and jails are full of people who just have opinions.”
Some right-wing pundits have come to the defence of Johnston over his hate-speech charge, which, if prosecuted as an indictable offence, carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment.
Rebel Media founder Ezra Levant interviewed Johnston on his paywalled show, and afterwards said some of Johnston’s comments were an example of “solipsism.” However, Levant still defended Johnston’s right to free speech but is reserving judgment about the case until the details are disclosed. (While there has been speculation that the charge may have stemmed from Johnston’s bounty for a video of Muslim students in Peel schools, police have yet to elaborate on their basis for laying it.)
National Post columnist Christie Blatchford also came to Johnston’s defence, writing that he was “just the latest poor sap to come to government attention,” and raised the concern that there is an “overt sheen of politicization to a prosecution which is inherently politicized by the unusual requirement that the [Attorney General] must first consent.”
The Perceived Political Vendetta
As a political candidate, Johnston had finished a distant 11th in the 2014 Mississauga mayoral race ultimately won by city councillor and former Liberal MP Bonnie Crombie. In her Post column, Blatchford pointed out that Crombie filed a hate-crime complaint against Johnston last year — which Blatchford believes could’ve been the “catalyst” for his arrest — after he published a “bizarre” article titled “Bonnie’s Muslims Are Molesting Teenage Girls in Mississauga Highschools.”
Furthering their impression that the charge was political, some of Johnston’s supporters have pointed to the fact that Ontario attorney general Yasir Naqvi is both Muslim and a Liberal.
Johnston himself told the JDL crowd that he thinks the charge was brought to hinder his second run for the Mississauga mayoralty, which he wholeheartedly believes he will win next year.
“The Liberal Party is in panic mode right now,” he said, adding that “when I win the mayorship of the city, I’m kowtowing to nobody.”
“I know for a fact that the Liberal Party does not want me to be mayor of Mississauga next year because they know how far I’ll take the changes in my hometown.”
The Ontario Civil Liberties Association — unaffiliated with the better-known Canadian Civil Liberties Association — has also backed Johnston, starting a petition to get Naqvi to reverse his decision to allow the “systemically political” proceedings to go ahead.
OCLA researcher Denis Rancourt told The Mississauga News, “Democratic societies should not have … criminal code provisions where the state is not ever having to prove actual harm, physical or psychological, to any actual person that they bring forth as a person that was harmed.”
CJFE, however, supports the government’s decision to allow hate-crime proceedings to commence against Johnston.
“You have a full right to free expression in this country, up until the point where you are inciting hatred against someone,” says CJFE executive director Tom Henheffer, who notes that Canadian law has “strict criteria” for what constitutes incitement.
Henheffer also addressed the “apparent irony” of a CJFE staff member suing someone for libel, although CJFE is not involved with Metcalf’s lawsuit.
“You have a right to free expression in this country, but that has limits, and one of those limits is that you can’t libel people, you can’t defame people, you can’t intentionally, maliciously, and publicly harm someone’s reputation, which is exactly what [Johnston] did.”
Levant, in his defence of Johnston, mocked a Global News report that quoted a Muslim activist claiming Johnston was inciting violence in his videos.
Yet some of Johnston’s videos appear to show him doing just that.
In a video denouncing Liberal MP Iqra Khalid for putting forth M-103, Johnston appears to say he would be glad to see her shot:
It sickens me that she holds a seat in Parliament Hill as a terrorist scumbag … I believe that you are a terrorist. I believe that you are here to kill me, and kill my children, and kill the entire future of this entire nation… The only thing that your actions can do is cause a civil war within these borders… Because I can tell you this, there are a lot of gun nuts in this country, and you’re pissing them off. You don’t want to do that. There is a select kind of Canadian that even I’m afraid of. And those are not the guys you want to try and bring Sharia law to. But hey, if you think that is the right way to go, go ahead. I’m a journalist, and I’ll be there to see you on the ground crying and complaining about the fact that someone shot you because they disagreed with Sharia law and the rape of children. And I’ll be there with a big fat smile on my face, saying, “Heh, heh, Iqra Khalid gets shot by a Canadian patriot who didn’t want to wrap his daughter up in a bandage, and who did not want to take on or adopt Sharia, where he has to pin his daughter down on the ground and cut her labia and clitoris off with a razor blade.”
The Endgame
Johnston craves media attention to get his message across, embracing stunt-right tactics, something The Rebel does regularly to attract mainstream media’s attention. In his speech to the crowd, he explained how the mainstream media helps him and other alt-right media spread their messages.
“This tells me that everybody who is of a liberal mindset, everybody who is a left-wing nutjob, is afraid of not me, but of what I — and all of you — represent,” he said. “We represent the truth, and we represent Canada.”
“The more they try and silence us, the more attention they give us. Because, we can always count on the Toronto Star, CBC, and CTV to be unwitting accomplices in getting our message out there.”
Following his talk, CANADALAND asked Johnston about his statement on The Ezra Levant Show that Muslims would be attacked and killed if he gets sent to prison.
While emphasizing that he doesn’t want “the average Muslim individual” attacked, he said he feels it would be inevitable.
“I don’t want them assaulted, I don’t want them stabbed, I don’t want them to be run over by cars because people are angry about what the government is doing, but we know it is going to happen,” he said. “We know that. I’m saying this clear: I. Don’t. Want. That. I don’t want civil war in my country because of what our government is doing. I don’t want division in our society.”
So what does he want?
“I want the whole country working together as a unified nation. The best example that I can give you — you weren’t there for this, unfortunately — but when the Blue Jays won the World Series, to be [in] downtown Toronto and high-fiving and hugging everybody, didn’t matter what colour or race they were, it didn’t make a difference. Nobody cared if the guy beside you had a turban on, it was high fives, it was hugs, ‘Blue Jays!’ Everybody had the Canadian flag regardless of their background. That’s the country I want.”
Johnston is set to make his next court appearance for the hate-speech charge on September 8.
The statement of claim in Kevin Metcalf’s defamation suit against Kevin J. Johnston in Small Claims Court:
https://www.scribd.com/document/356085052/Kevin-Metcalf-v-Kevin-J-Johnston#fullscreen&from_embed
Correction (8/12/17, 4:20 p.m.): This piece originally omitted the “t” from the surname of Ontario Civil Liberties Association researcher Denis Rancourt.
‘Antifa’ Knife Attack Claim By Anti-Muslim Internet Personality Challenged By Witnesses, Police
An alleged assault covered by the Ottawa Citizen and National Post may not have happened as reported. Kevin J. Johnston, an online media personality of Canada’s anti-Muslim right, claims he and his cameraman were assaulted by ‘Antifa’ members, resulting in the arrests of four individuals who are facing several charges. The incident took place last Saturday, before the “Million Canadian March” on Parliament Hill that was erroneously reported by Breitbart as a rally of 5000 Trump supporters. In reality, a generous estimate of attendees would place the crowd size at 200.
Both the National Post and the Ottawa Police Service treated Johnston’s version of events as credible, despite contradictions in his account. Ottawa Police arrested individuals pointed out by Johnston, despite being told by others present that Johnston initiated the violence by assaulting a young woman. Charges, including assault with a weapon, were laid against individuals identified by Johnston.
Audrey, a demonstrator who witnessed the incident, is critical of how the police handled things. “It’s about who the police listen to and trust, says Audrey. ”So many people told the police [Johnston] assaulted a woman, but Kevin just points at people and they get arrested.”
Kevin J. Johnston publishes anti-Muslim and anti-government videos on his Freedom Report website, and for his 13,500 followers on Twitter. Johnston, who has said Islam isn’t a religion, is offering a bounty of $2500 for anybody who will record Muslim children praying in schools. In one of his videos, he calls MP Iqra Khalid a terrorist and says he would be happy to see her get shot.
According to Blair Crawford, the Ottawa Citizen reporter who covered the incident, protests are common in Ottawa, and the Million Canadian March — which Johnston was associated with — flew under their radar. Crawford responded to a letter to the editor penned by this reporter and is conducting interviews to better understand the context of the anti-Muslim vs. anti-racist rallies for subsequent pieces.
Crawford also received several phone calls critical of the piece. He says he was skeptical of Johnston, given what he’s published in the past, but decided to treat Johnston like any other victim of a crime. He also indicated that he omitted Johnston’s anti-Muslim comments from his reporting. But Crawford did give Johnston a platform for one of his political views — that Justin Trudeau is “a child” and the country is falling apart. No other witnesses to the incident or any of the anti-fascist activists charged were interviewed for the published article.
Johnston’s own account of the incident is contradictory.
Johnston originally reported on Twitter that he was the victim of a knife attack. But Sergeant Hrabchak of the Ottawa Police Service tells CANADALAND that there was no knife attack. “We don’t have any information of that,” says Hrabchak. “None whatsoever. We’ve got one victim, and he’s not even being cooperative with us now.”
Witnesses who were getting ready to demonstrate against the Million Canadian March — who are anti-racist and anti-fascist activists, but not members of ‘Antifa’ — tell a different story. They say the altercation in the park all started with a verbal argument between Johnston and members of the group and that it only turned violent when Johnston attacked a young woman.
After first claiming that there was an ‘Antifa’ knife attack, Johnston changed his story, tweeting that there was no knife attack but that knives had been pulled out after his attack and recovered by the police. Multiple witnesses tell CANADALAND that isn’t true. Johnston also claimed his cameraman was hit in the head, causing a concussion.
The Ottawa Police Service arrived shortly after the violence, responding to a 911 call by Johnston in which he told the police that ‘Antifa’ had a gun. The police arrived 10 minutes later. Witnesses say no gun was recovered. In a video he published on Sunday, Johnston tells a different story, saying it was a fake gun. One of the accused is charged with a firearms-related offence.
Several tweets from Friday suggest that Johnston was seeking out violence or confrontation in Ottawa.
Confronting ideological opponents — usually Muslims or anti-racist activists — arguing with them, and filming their reactions is the modus operandi for several extreme right-wing Canadian YouTubers, including Johnston.
Johnston says he ran over to Confederation Park because ‘Antifa’ members were harassing women on the corner.
“I stuck the microphone up to the kid,” says Johnston in his retelling of events. “Hey guys, how does it feel to pick on women? Does it make you feel very masculine and manly to scream at ladies on the street?”
Two anti-fascists were handing out pamphlets on the corner and warning people about the racist Million Canadian March. According to one of the pamphleteers, one group stopped and said they were going to the Million Canadian March. The pamphleteers called them racist. A couple ran over and started yelling that the pamphleteers were sexist. There was a shouting match and the pamphleteers left, only to be followed down the street by Johnston who was yelling at them over and over again, “Why do you want to kill all white people?”
“I assume he was just trying to get a response and then edit it,” says one of the pamphleteers. “He’s a provocateur.”
According to both Johnston and the anti-fascists, he followed those individuals into Confederation Park. Witnesses then say he confronted individuals and stuck cameras into their faces, but the violence only started when Johnston punched at the head of a young woman and pulled her to the ground. He then fell to the ground and the group separated the two of them. Johnston was then beaten, suffering a cut to the ear. A few seconds later, he got to his feet and he stayed in the park asking for his camera back, which was allegedly taken during the fight. It was not returned. Witnesses say the woman suffered cuts to her face and was shaken up. She left the park.
I found the anti-fascist demonstrators doing “jail solidarity” at the police station at the bottom of Elgin Street. The police station was on lockdown while a group of 10 demonstrators played Uno and shared snacks, waiting for their friends inside to be released.
“When I called the police, the police arrived,” Johnston says in a video, “. . . I couldn’t believe the amount of fear that these Antifa kids had when I was standing there with uniformed police officers.”
Johnston has announced plans to “doxx” the anti-fascists who were arrested. Doxxing often begins campaigns of harassment, death threats, and worse.
“If I have access to your name and your home address and your parents’ names and your parents’ places of business — I’m posting all of that stuff,” says Johnston. “You’re going to have me at your front doors showing the world where you live and who you are.”
“Even though Antifa are kids,” he says, “they’re no longer human being to me . . . I will defend myself properly from now on in. I’m going to defend myself to be best of my ability. You’re not going to like it. I’m bringing martial artists with me at all times.”
Kevin J. Johnston did not respond to CANADALAND’s requests for comment.
https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/short-cuts-msm-fgm-wtf/
The Toronto Star built an entire exposé on female genital mutilation based predominantly around a mid-level civil servant’s email from three years ago.
Also, CBC Comedy is so unfunny it’s funny. Or is that the other way around? Either way, a former member of Kellie Leitch’s team has made it his mission to bring it down.
Writer/broadcaster, and producer Naheed Mustafa joins us.
https://ipolitics.ca/2017/07/24/online-campaign-with-cpc-ties-working-to-kill-cbc-comedy/
Online campaign with Conservative ties working to kill CBC Comedy
Kellie Leitch’s former campaign spokesman has launched an online campaign to de-fund the CBC’s satire project, CBC Comedy.
The site, www.thatisnotfunny.ca, was started by Michael Diamond, Conservative campaign strategist and principal at Upstream Strategy Group. It describes CBC Comedy as a not-terribly-funny and “lame” version of the popular satire site The Onion. It urges readers to write to their members of Parliament, Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and CBC president Hubert Lacroix to call for the site to lose its public funding.
“Canada already has a lame version of The Onion, it is called The Beaverton, so why on earth do taxpayers need to fund a less funny version in CBC ‘Comedy’?” states the website.
The site argues CBC Comedy’s jokes tend to fall flat. Diamond cites as an example a segment about U.S. Senator John McCain, who recently was diagnosed with brain cancer after having surgery to remove a blood clot. CBC Comedy produced a segment titled, “John McCain back to ‘his old self’ after surgery, unfortunately.” The segment has since been removed.
Diamond, who was Leitch’s spokesperson during her failed bid to win the Tory leadership, told iPolitics in an email that he didn’t pay attention to CBC Comedy until this winter when he noticed Twitter users complaining about the poor quality of the segments.
“I couldn’t help but agree, it is just not funny,” wrote Diamond.
“On Wednesday night I noticed others tweeting about their poorly-timed piece (since removed) on Senator McCain. Senator McCain is a personal hero of mine – he was my preferred candidate in 2000 when he ran for the GOP nomination, and in 2008 I was blessed to attend the Republican Convention, and see him deliver his acceptance speech in person.”
Diamond said the website campaign is not about the CBC itself; it’s about “taxpayer dollars” being wasted on “bad jokes.”
Diamond said his goal is to build grassroots support which will force CBC to respond by disbanding “this giant and unfunny waste.”
The website went live Friday afternoon, said Diamond, and so far, with minimal effort online, over 150 emails have been sent to MPs, Joly, Scheer and to Lacroix.
CBC’s response shows that the public broadcaster is working at remedying the fallout from the segment on McCain. An automated response is triggered by filling out the form on Diamond’s website.
Senior director of Comedy, Michelle Daly, wrote, “I understand you have reached out to Hubert Lacroix, President and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada and your member of Parliament regarding a piece from CBC Comedy about US Senator John McCain.”
“In my role as the Head of Comedy for CBC, I wanted to respond on CBC’s behalf. Let me start by saying I appreciate the time you have taken to share your concerns and please know, it is never our intention to offend any individual or group. We also recognize that our viewers have different standards by which they judge our satirical content.”
Daly wrote that at the time the piece about McCain was posted, news outlets had reported that McCain was recovering well from surgery however, “news of Senator McCain’s medical condition changed the following day.”
“As soon as we were aware of the new diagnosis we removed the post, judging that it was no longer in good taste. It is increasingly difficult to scrub metadata from the internet once a post is removed, but we have taken all possible action to rectify the situation,” wrote Daly.
So far, no automated responses have been issued by Joly or Scheer.
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