Rebel News is suing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s security team after a group of officers assaulted and illegally detained one of the outlet’s veteran journalists as Trudeau arrived at an event in Toronto earlier this month.
Ezra Levant, the founder of Rebel News, called the incident “the worst thing that has ever happened to a Rebel News Reporter in our 7 years,” pointing out how the outlet had seen “street thugs and Antifa members” attack their reporters over the years, but “never a government thug” – until now.
Footage of the shocking incident shows reporter David Menzies standing on a public sidewalk with others as they waited for Trudeau to arrive at a venue called Brickworks on December 9th.
Just as Trudeau’s motorcade arrives, an officer tells Menzies – who is clearly standing on the sidewalk – to “get out of the road” because he could “get hit by a car.”
Menzies then jokes, “You’d like to see that,” to which the officer replies, “I wouldn’t like to see that at all. It means a lot of paperwork for me.”
Menzies can then be heard letting out a laugh.
Just seconds later, without any apparent reason or warning other than Trudeau needing to get out of the car, his government thugs begin manhandling Menzies and begin pushing him down the sidewalk. Once he was a safe distance away from the Canadian leader, the jackboots repeatedly shoved his face into a wooden fence while they restrained him, allowing the group to enter the venue without any pesky questions or unwanted criticism.
“Are you kidding?” Menzies can be heard shouting as the officers rough him up.
Despite yelling about how they “had no right” to detain him on a public sidewalk, and repeatedly demanding to know whether he was under arrest, the officers remained silent as they continued their assault.
Only after Trudeau’s entourage had cleared the scene did the officers stop – and even then, they refused to provide any justification.
Watch:
https://twitter.com/MarkSlapinski/status/1471690964737662976?t=e_8CaAIN7CM72ETPYqBvIA&s=19
And the full 10 min raw clip:
As is the case in the US, in Canada, citizens and journalists are provided free speech and freedom of the press rights when occupying public areas such as sidewalks.
According to the lawsuit, filed by Menzies and Rebel News against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Menzies rights were violated by Trudeau’s security detail when he was “intentionally surrounded, detained, totally confined, physically assaulted and battered, and knocked over,” which effectively “prevented Mr. Menzies from interacting with the Prime Minister, all without provocation, warning, or reasonable grounds.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Trudeau is to blame for the incident, even going as far as to say an assault like this was inevitable because the authoritarian PM has tirelessly built a “culture of contempt and hostility” against Rebel News through his constant “demonization” in public and private.
From the lawsuit:
“Despite a stated commitment to free press,the Prime Minster and his government have previously interfered with, and publicly denounced, censured, and singled out for contempt, Rebel News and its journalists in the course of their efforts to report on Canadian public affairs.
The Prime Minister and his government have engaged in a pattern of demonization of Rebel News and its staff, creating a culture of contempt and hostility within the federal government towards Rebel News.
Further, the public and private statements, sentiments, actions, and positions of the Prime Minister, his associates, and staff, regarding Rebel News, were careless, reckless and/or deliberate, and it was reasonably foreseeable and did in fact, inspire and lead to a culture of aggression and recklessnessamong the RCMP Officers in their handling of “all matters Rebel”, including their unwarranted and unlawful detention, assault, and use of excessive force against Mr. Menzies on December 9, 2021.”
