Toronto police arrested Rebel News founder and journalist Ezra Levant while he attempted to record a pro-Hamas protest taking place in a Jewish neighbourhood in Toronto.
Levant was covering a now weekly anti-Israel counter-protest against pro-Israel supporters who gathered at the same time at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue when police pulled him away from recording the group.
In an email, Levant told True North that he had since been released from jail and would sue the Toronto Police for violating his Charter rights.
“Police arrested me for ‘causing a disturbance’ when I was silently filming a pro-Hamas protest in a Jewish neighbourhood in Toronto,” Levant told True North. “The cops said that my mere presence was causing a disturbance because the pro-Hamas people didn’t want me there.”
Before police pulled him away from documenting the protestors, Levant was attempting to record one protester who was dressed as Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar in his final moments before being eliminated by the Israeli Defence Force.
Hamas is a listed terrorist entity in Canada. The terror group’s charter has the goal of “vanquishing” its “enemy,” the Jews, written into its constitution.
Levant likened the man role-playing Sinwar in the Jewish neighbourhood to someone dressing up as Adolf Hitler in the area where Holocaust survivors lived.
In the video, several protesters can be seen donning inverted red triangles on their clothing, a symbol used in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate targets of the group’s gunfire and rockets.
One protester, wearing a black Guy Fawkes mask, waved at Jewish supporters across the street- taunting them by flashing and pointing at the red inverted triangle symbol.
Levant called his arrest outrageous. He has no prior arrests.
“Since when do foreign provocateurs promoting a banned terrorist organization get to veto who can and can’t walk on a sidewalk?” he said.
Rebel News and independent journalist Caryma Sa’d’s team recorded the moments leading up to and including his arrest.
As seen in a video released by Rebel News, as police escorted Levant away from the protesters for “inciting the crowd,” several Palestinian flag-bearing protesters followed them, shouting at Levant.
Police escorted Levant to a “media zone,” saying if people wanted to be interviewed by Rebel News, they could go to that area. Levant claimed that he didn’t want to conduct interviews and that his purpose was to document what he and many of the Jewish protesters viewed as a hate crime.
Levant refused to stay in the area, but he was told to remain.
After Levant confronted Toronto Police Services and accused them of arresting journalists instead of the pro-Hamas protesters, a police officer placed him under arrest.
“In the interest of keeping the peace here and in the interest of public safety, you are under arrest,” the officer said.
Rebel News journalist David Menzies was arrested at Bathurst and Shepphard just weeks before, the same day an anti-Israel protester cosplaying as a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist was arrested.
Following requests for comment and information on whether any of the other protesters were placed under arrest, TPS did not respond.