Rebel News Podcast - ANDREW CHAPADOS ｜ Mocha Bezirgan： Is Canada worse than an Islamic regime？

00:00:00.080 The funny thing is, just so that I don't have to deal with the police and their nonsense

00:00:06.040 in Turkey, I decided to move to Canada.

00:00:11.680 And I went to broadcasting school at Humber College here in Toronto.

00:00:17.380 And then I ended up here at Rebel.

00:00:19.480 Efron found me.

00:00:20.480 I was working on a documentary.

00:00:23.320 And I ended up dealing with the police ten times more than I was dealing in Turkey.

00:00:30.000 Doosalem aka Mocha Bezergin is an actor, videographer, documentarian and editor, I could go on,

00:00:40.600 who had vaulted into fame as a teenager for his anti-establishment comedy short films.

00:00:45.760 And he's currently videographer in chief at Rebel News and we're happy to have him here.

00:00:50.080 Thank you Mocha for joining me on this episode.

00:00:52.380 No problem.

00:00:53.380 Bring up the energy level, man.

00:00:54.820 Let's scream. 1.00

00:00:55.820 It's just next door to my editing suit, so I just walked in.

00:00:59.880 He's just yelling all day, he can't take it anymore.

00:01:01.940 I want to go back to when, before you were in Canada to start, because I don't think a

00:01:05.700 lot of people who are Rebel News fans know, you got your start doing short comedic films

00:01:11.340 online.

00:01:12.340 Can you tell us a bit about that, what it was like, how you got such a big reception from

00:01:15.640 people in Turkey?

00:01:16.640 Well, I started around 2016 and I met with two other individuals in Turkey who were very

00:01:27.780 funny people, but they lacked the technical skills to put together a video or a script

00:01:35.140 or recorded and then, you know, the social media.

00:01:40.360 They did have the social media skills.

00:01:41.760 So basically we came together, three men, and we, with our skills coming together, something

00:01:49.640 great happened.

00:01:51.820 That are ideas and scenarios, our short films.

00:01:56.680 We reached millions and millions of Turkish audience in Turkey.

00:02:02.940 Of course, at that time I was around the age of 16 or 17.

00:02:07.940 So I was young, and with all this attention, we also attracted attention from the police.

00:02:21.220 In Turkey it's very easy to just fill a complaint that you got offended on the internet, and claim

00:02:28.940 that oh, this video is insulting my religious belief.

00:02:34.120 And then I went to the police station twice on two occasions.

00:02:38.480 The first occasion was, I was, one of my video, I was being accused of creating division

00:02:50.540 and hate in society.

00:02:52.400 Yeah, I know that's a charge there, isn't it?

00:02:54.800 It's against the law to insult somebody's religion, and I think it was even to cause offense,

00:03:00.340 I believe?

00:03:01.340 Yes, offense, exactly.

00:03:02.600 But the video itself was actually the opposite of the claim that was brought against me.

00:03:12.260 Because in the video we were actually promoting unity and peace.

00:03:16.740 The video's name was the drug of ideology.

00:03:23.060 In the video, you see a man selling drugs, and then this guy buys the drug, he takes the drug,

00:03:32.720 and then he goes high.

00:03:34.720 And then as he's walking down the street, he sees three Muslim men.

00:03:39.480 And they're like, oh, how are you, my Muslim brother?

00:03:42.380 Oh, we're going to the mosque, how are you doing?

00:03:45.380 Because this guy is high on ideology, he interprets that as a, you know, oh, you ISIS, you, you know,

00:03:51.820 this and that, what are you doing in this country, you're never going to.

00:03:55.040 And they're shocked because in reality they're just normal human beings who happen to be Muslim. 1.00

00:04:04.700 And they're not terrorists or anything.

00:04:07.360 And then he goes on to another guy who is speaking Kurdish.

00:04:12.360 And in Turkey there is that division between Turkish and Kurdish.

00:04:16.360 There are the separatists who want to separate from Turkey.

00:04:20.200 But that's a challenge because in the constitution of Turkey it says that even an MP, democratically,

00:04:27.660 cannot bring up the idea of separation.

00:04:31.100 So there's that problem.

00:04:33.740 And then he says, he just asks him how to get to taxing, how to get to a location.

00:04:40.100 But because he's high on ideology appeal, he interprets that as, oh, we're going to 0.98

00:04:45.600 divide the country, we're going to have our own country, goddamn Turkish Republic, and so 1.00

00:04:51.720 on and so on. 0.99

00:04:52.720 But we were just showing, you know, there's, we were trying to show unity.

00:05:00.760 We were trying to spread that message that, hey guys, don't take it too seriously.

00:05:06.520 Don't get, you know, dive into foxholes, so to speak.

00:05:11.160 But someone interpreted that wrong.

00:05:14.380 And I had to go to the police station and explain that this is not the case.

00:05:17.960 And on a second occasion, this time our whole, oh, I'm sorry, our whole YouTube channel was

00:05:24.340 being accused of insulting the president of Turkey, insulting religious beliefs of the

00:05:31.920 public, and so on and so on, hate crime, so forth.

00:05:36.340 But there is, it's like nonsense.

00:05:41.140 Now, here in Canada, we face censorship all the time.

00:05:45.700 Videos are taken off for certain subjects, especially in the last 16 months.

00:05:50.420 Was it just public pressure that you faced, or did people actually censor you?

00:05:54.880 Did any of your videos get taken down?

00:05:56.840 Did the government demand anything, anything like that?

00:05:59.920 Well, YouTube took down that particular video and gave us a strike, I believe.

00:06:08.560 But because this is three years ago, I don't really remember.

00:06:11.160 But then they turned, they let it be.

00:06:13.680 They monetized it again.

00:06:14.980 They left it.

00:06:16.060 And there was no lawsuit after these allegations.

00:06:20.220 The prosecutor didn't go with it because I defended myself.

00:06:26.860 I said, these are baseless claims. 1.00

00:06:28.860 And I said, whoever made this claim against me is stupid. 0.99

00:06:34.500 I said that in the police report. 0.99

00:06:36.500 And the police said, are you sure you want to say that?

00:06:38.500 I said, yes.

00:06:39.500 So, I'm saying that because being at that age, and I'm also, you know, facing all that stress from the police.

00:06:50.140 Because when you're, because who wants to, you know, think of the point of view of your family.

00:06:55.560 Who wants their children to get into trouble with the police, the government, and when you're, especially have a large following, and then maybe go to jail.

00:07:05.320 Because one of my friends, he is facing four years in jail now, it's a court decision, because he made a music video, a parody music video, of a rapper who made a music video about weed.

00:07:21.920 So, the rapper himself already got into jail.

00:07:26.220 Okay, that's crazy.

00:07:28.420 So, I didn't face pressure from the public.

00:07:31.840 The pressure was coming within the family.

00:07:33.940 And that pressure combined with the, you know, pressure of my friends, their motivation was being damaged, their willingness, because me, I'm dual citizen.

00:07:46.180 If anything goes wrong, I can just come to Canada.

00:07:49.300 My friends, they are there, they are Turkish citizens.

00:07:52.740 If anything goes wrong, they're going to suffer.

00:07:55.040 So, with all that stress, I said, you know what, why am I dealing with this?

00:08:01.380 Why shouldn't I go back to Canada?

00:08:03.900 That's what I was going to ask.

00:08:05.140 So, you're a young guy, you're famous, assumingly you're making at least some, enough money to survive on your own, is that fair to say?

00:08:13.140 In Turkey?

00:08:13.660 Yeah.

00:08:14.140 Well, because I was at that age, I was living with my family, so I wasn't paying rent, but I was making enough money to sustain myself.

00:08:21.140 So, that's the reason you come to Canada then, is all the nonsense you have to deal with in Turkey? 1.00

00:08:25.900 Yeah, all the nonsense, and I said, you know, in Canada, you have free speech, you have, the police is not, like, the police doesn't ask your ID every day when you're on the subway or walking to a major park or something.

00:08:43.140 So, I said, I'm not going to deal with it.

00:08:46.380 And also, there's a difference of consciousness levels between nations.

00:08:51.620 For example, I was in Armenia, I was interviewing an intellectual there, and he was doing some research about Armenian genocide, and he goes back and forth to Turkey.

00:09:04.860 And in Turkey, that's a hot topic.

00:09:06.860 So, he didn't want the interview to be released, because he thought I was just doing for school work, but this was in 2017, and I was young.

00:09:16.860 So, I asked him, why are you scared? Why are you getting death threats in Turkey for even just talking about this?

00:09:26.860 I said, aren't we in the 21st century?

00:09:30.860 And he said, well, yeah, we might be in the 21st century, but not every country is in the 21st century.

00:09:38.860 And that is right, that is so true.

00:09:40.860 I want to ask you about the differences between Canada and Turkey.

00:09:45.860 Like, Canada now, during all these lockdowns we mentioned, the police might not harass you before, but they certainly are legally allowed to right now.

00:09:53.860 You see it with our own producer, Efron, getting ticketed for handshakes and David Menzies.

00:09:58.860 So, they're allowed to ID you for whatever they want.

00:10:00.860 It's funny.

00:10:01.860 So, how do you compare Canada as it is now to Turkey as it was when you left?

00:10:06.860 The funny thing is, just so that I don't have to deal with the police and their nonsense in Turkey, I decided to move to Canada.

00:10:17.860 And I went to broadcasting school at Humber College here in Toronto, and then I ended up here at Rebel.

00:10:25.860 Efron found me, I was working on a documentary, and I ended up dealing with the police ten times more than I was dealing in Turkey.

00:10:33.860 Exactly.

00:10:34.860 But here in Canada, I embrace it.

00:10:38.860 Do you still feel like it's a better, more free place?

00:10:41.860 In terms of economical freedom, yes.

00:10:46.860 But right now, the direction it's going, it's not going, you know, more free and more free every day.

00:10:54.860 It's going less free and less free every day.

00:10:57.860 And that will have very bad consequences.

00:11:01.860 Right now, we're just suffering the immediate consequences of these lockdowns and these acts of the police.

00:11:09.860 We're going to suffer the real consequences later because some effects just don't happen right away.

00:11:17.860 It takes some time.

00:11:19.860 Now, moving forward to when you first start working with Rebel News, one of your first videos, and I think we started around the same time,

00:11:28.860 one of your first things was working with David Menzies at, I think, a Sir John A. McDonald statue, which we're still dealing with right now, everybody.

00:11:35.860 There's still tons of, you know, controversy around our first Prime Minister, even though that's really crazy.

00:11:41.860 And I've got to turn, you know, when I speak to the camera.

00:11:44.860 So you were attacked that day, not to make light of it.

00:11:47.860 You want to recap that a little bit while we show the highlights of it?

00:11:51.860 Somebody's throwing stuff at you guys and they hit you with a Gatorade, I think?

00:11:54.860 Yeah, it was actually, David was more attacked than I was because I kind of, when all that thing started happening,

00:12:03.860 I immediately, I'm like, okay, this is no longer a video, this is no longer an interview.

00:12:09.860 Now I have to use my camera in a way to collect evidence.

00:12:13.860 And the gang members were coming towards us and they, I'm not talking about the police,

00:12:21.860 and they started to, they have their umbrellas as a tactic to block the camera so that you won't be able to collect evidence of their crimes.

00:12:34.860 But I'm physically gifted, I'm a tall individual and I have long arms and I was materially gifted too.

00:12:41.860 I had a long tripod. So what did I do? I used my brain.

00:12:45.860 I pull up the camera like this all the way up so that their umbrellas won't be able to block it.

00:12:52.860 Now when this sort of stuff is happening, and obviously it's not the first time, what's going through your head?

00:12:57.860 Because me, I mean, there's like the one video I have where they're all surrounding me,

00:13:02.860 the native black identitarian group and they're all surrounding me and they're trying to intimidate me. 1.00

00:13:07.860 And if one of them like attacks me like that, I can't say that I would be as calm as you are.

00:13:13.860 What's going through your mind when that stuff happens? Just get it all on tape because it's a story and you want to expose these people?

00:13:19.860 Are you mad? How do you feel when that's happening?

00:13:21.860 I feel, you know, like I ask, first I ask to myself, you know, I'm a somewhat Turkish superstar in Turkey.

00:13:29.860 Why am I getting punched here or pushed around here?

00:13:32.860 But at the same time, you put me in any other country on earth, anywhere.

00:13:39.860 And if there's something that disturbs me in that country or in the way the government is doing things,

00:13:45.860 or anyone who claims power over me, I'm going to get, obviously, active, politically active.

00:13:52.860 As anyone would, because we, as individuals, we all have values, we all have convictions, we all have, you know, our moral, what do you call it, point of views.

00:14:07.860 So, as I was active against the government in Turkey, and the people who were trying to have more control over me, I'm going to be like that in Canada as well. 0.96

00:14:25.860 So, I embrace that, and I'm not afraid or, like, in my mind, it's not like, oh, shit, I'm going to get, sorry, I'm going to get punched or something.

00:14:36.860 I mean, in, what my reaction was, not towards them because they're violent, everybody knows that. 0.84

00:14:44.860 My reaction was to the police who choose not to be there because the protesters demanded that they stand down.

00:14:54.860 Why do they stand down when these, those particular protesters want them to stand down, but not for other protesters?

00:15:01.860 And, as you know, recently I was punched in the face in a Israel protest, pro-Israel protest.

00:15:11.860 And, you can see my reaction there right after getting punched. I'm like, what's going on?

00:15:17.860 What is this child-minded, low character, piece of human flesh is trying to do?

00:15:26.860 Like, he was such a low character, such a despicable human being that he wouldn't even look me in the eye when I was chasing him around. 0.75

00:15:37.860 He denied that he punched me. He wouldn't say it to the police. He wouldn't acknowledge it.

00:15:41.860 He wouldn't acknowledge it, and his low character friends wouldn't even acknowledge it.

00:15:44.860 So, that's what I expose. I like to, if he was proud of what he did, he would have looked me in the eye and he would say, yeah, I punched you, you know.

00:15:54.860 But, no. So...

00:15:56.860 You're really exposing these people's characters, I gotta say.

00:15:58.860 There are so many low characters walking around.

00:16:01.860 I wanna move on to another form of protest, which was all the anti-lockdown protests that happened.

00:16:08.860 And, again, you were one of the first people to go to these things.

00:16:11.860 I'm reminded of the one at Cherry Beach. Maybe we can flash to that one.

00:16:15.860 Where it's basically just a party we're seeing on screen here.

00:16:18.860 And all these people that would soon become characters.

00:16:22.860 What was your feeling when that happened?

00:16:24.860 Did you think that all this would last so long as it has and it's still going on?

00:16:29.860 We're still having protests just for basic freedoms.

00:16:32.860 Did you think in the moment of that time that this was gonna last that long?

00:16:35.860 Well, I wouldn't want to think like that.

00:16:38.860 So, I didn't think like that.

00:16:40.860 But, I knew that just like how Canadian government introduced the income tax to fund World War II,

00:16:51.860 it was introduced as a temporary measure, right?

00:16:55.860 But, look, World War II is over and yet we still have income tax and it's increasing and it's increasing.

00:17:02.860 And, so, I think it was Milton Friedman who said, or was it Hayek who said,

00:17:10.860 there's nothing more permanent than a temporary measure or a temporary government policy.

00:17:18.860 And, so, when all this COVID stuff started happening, yeah, you know, there was that quote behind my mind.

00:17:25.860 But, of course, I didn't want that to be true.

00:17:28.860 Now, I want to get to some of the characters that are at these lockdown events.

00:17:36.860 You've got your Chris Skyes, you've got your Adam Skellies, you've even got some of the reporters who are at a bunch of these.

00:17:43.860 Is there a way that you can predict?

00:17:45.860 I mean, you've been in the media for several years.

00:17:48.860 I'm sure you're able to predict like some of the trends and who's got talent.

00:17:51.860 As your friends, you saw that they have talent, but they just didn't have the technical means.

00:17:55.860 Did you see this coming that there would be anti-lockdown superstars?

00:18:00.860 I mean, Chris Skyes, hundreds of thousands of followers.

00:18:03.860 Adam Skellies, at least a hundred thousand.

00:18:06.860 Was it going to be anybody, I guess I'm asking?

00:18:09.860 Or do you think that these people have specific talents or personality traits that make them so popular?

00:18:15.860 I did not predict that because...

00:18:18.860 Is it sort of the same as you, though?

00:18:19.860 I think I do have the prediction talents because I was at a secret comedy club yesterday night in a garage.

00:18:28.860 And there were very talented underground comedians there.

00:18:32.860 And when I look at them, I'm like, yeah, they're going to be the next generation of real comedians.

00:18:40.860 Does every counterculture inevitably have these people that are going to be popularized in the forefront?

00:18:46.860 Just like you were.

00:18:47.860 Because the way you described your comedy to me and your videos to me was,

00:18:50.860 it was bringing a style of comedy and video that literally didn't exist there.

00:18:55.860 So in here, where we're not used to having lockdowns and not having communist-style rules,

00:19:00.860 as soon as somebody goes against that and starts a counterculture against that,

00:19:04.860 are they bound to become launched into the spotlight?

00:19:08.860 Well, if they just keep doing it and keep getting better at it, of course, fame and fortune will find them.

00:19:16.860 But I didn't predict Chris Sky and Adam Skelly getting this much popular.

00:19:23.860 In fact, Chris Sky got so much popular, his video with you in the studio got translated into Turkish

00:19:30.860 and got thousands and thousands of views in Turkey.

00:19:35.860 And I'm also a translator. I worked as a translator. I translated, you know, I translated not only for personal stuff.

00:19:43.860 I like translating books, music, words and everything. Also humor, sense of humor.

00:19:49.860 So in Turkey, that's what I was doing. I was kind of bringing the Western sense of humor to Turkey.

00:19:54.860 And I believe that's why it also gained a lot of attention because the youth in Turkey is very westernized.

00:20:04.860 Like how can you not be because on the internet, the TV and everything.

00:20:09.860 And the counterculture is not us. The counterculture is the rulers of Turkey, the dominant ideology, the dominant belief in Turkey. 0.70

00:20:22.860 They are the counterculture. They are countering the youth. We're not countering them. 0.90

00:20:26.860 I see. And right now, they are dominant, but they're not dominant if you don't allow them to be dominant in your mind

00:20:36.860 and in your surroundings with your friends. Anyways, I'm just mumbling.

00:20:40.860 No, that's very interesting because to have people in power who aren't really supported by the youth,

00:20:46.860 which appears to be sadly how it is, at least in Canada right now, if you talk to young people, they're very confused.

00:20:53.860 But at the same time, obviously, as I'm sure they are in Turkey, they might be super liberal in one way,

00:20:59.860 but they don't necessarily support, they don't know what they're supporting.

00:21:02.860 Look, just imagine yourself as a Turkish youth, okay?

00:21:06.860 I do every day.

00:21:07.860 Yeah, let's say you're a 15-year-old Turkish youth, and let's say when you were 5 years old, which is 10 years ago,

00:21:16.860 the Turkish currency, Lira, was equivalent to the United States dollar.

00:21:23.860 One U.S. dollar would make one Turkish, I'm sorry, yes, 1.17 Turkish Liras.

00:21:33.860 Yeah, okay.

00:21:34.860 It was almost similar.

00:21:35.860 Mm-hmm.

00:21:36.860 So now, but one dollar now makes almost 10 Liras.

00:21:41.860 Within the 10 years, Turkish currency has devalued so much.

00:21:47.860 Not only that, but also the government taxes have increased so much.

00:21:53.860 When you're buying an Xbox or a PlayStation, as if the currency difference wasn't enough, you also have to buy the same device for the government when you pay taxes.

00:22:05.860 Like, actually?

00:22:06.860 Actually, the taxes itself cost more than the product.

00:22:09.860 I see.

00:22:10.860 Let's say you're a young man like me, 21, 20 years old, and you want to buy a car.

00:22:15.860 And you have to buy the same car, four of the same car to the government.

00:22:21.860 So the car itself costs four more times because of the taxes.

00:22:27.860 If Turkey can destroy its currency like that, and you know, Erdogan blames foreign actors.

00:22:35.860 He blames, oh, it's the West, oh, they're coming onto us because they are jealous of our new bridge, our new airport, and so on.

00:22:43.860 And this is all nonsense.

00:22:44.860 You are the guy who is appointing the central bank, what's his position called, whatever.

00:22:55.860 So it's actually him destroying the currency itself.

00:22:59.860 It's the government doing it.

00:23:00.860 If Turkey, if Turkish government can do it, and if the Turkish population can submit it, why can it not happen in Canada?

00:23:09.860 And with the lockdowns, it's kind of happening.

00:23:12.860 We see the same submission.

00:23:14.860 We see the similar rules and same reasoning.

00:23:19.860 So anyways, I don't want to deviate from my point.

00:23:25.860 That's fine.

00:23:26.860 No, I see a lot of it happening as well.

00:23:30.860 And I wonder if this is just something that happens naturally when a government grants itself power.

00:23:36.860 All these chips start falling where they might not necessarily be doing it on purpose,

00:23:41.860 but their actions towards other things like valuing, you know, gender pronouns, for example,

00:23:47.860 over hiring somebody who's really good at economics or when you look at the environment minister.

00:23:53.860 She's not a bright woman.

00:23:54.860 She has a fake voice.

00:23:56.860 She literally has a pretend voice.

00:23:58.860 She's not the person I would put in charge to control environmental regulations and a carbon tax and what have you

00:24:06.860 and everything else that they try to implement.

00:24:08.860 Other things are more important to them.

00:24:09.860 So I'm sure that I'm wondering if all this stuff just comes together as a failing government,

00:24:15.860 whether or not they do it on purpose or not.

00:24:17.860 Do you have any opinion on that?

00:24:18.860 Well, as you know, in Canada, almost half of the population doesn't even vote.

00:24:24.860 And if I'm not wrong, the first federal election in Canada only had, but we should fact check this,

00:24:30.860 only had around 15% participation.

00:24:34.860 So 85% of the population didn't even vote.

00:24:37.860 And in Turkey, it's almost half-half.

00:24:40.860 I think maybe more than half the voting participation.

00:24:43.860 And when Erdogan expanded his power and became omnipotence in Turkey, it happened with a referendum.

00:24:56.860 And the referendum result was 51% in favor, 49% not in favor.

00:25:05.860 And so what?

00:25:07.860 Does that justify him having all that power over 100% of the population?

00:25:12.860 In my opinion, no.

00:25:16.860 I think we have a population that is not very much aware the government is, and the police is, acting on their behalf, at their expense.

00:25:31.860 But we need to be aware of this and not let the government and the enforcers act in contrary to our values and our beliefs, our convictions.

00:25:47.860 I think a lot of it is people not looking at the long run and the logic of a lot of the policies that get into place.

00:25:54.860 I mean, I mentioned it a bit, but when you look at things, it comes from the term of media gratification.

00:26:01.860 Oh, right now we're putting this bill into place where we're going to stop people from saying bad medical advice on the internet, for example, is the rationale.

00:26:09.860 They don't think about five years later when who decides what the bad information is, who decides who gets to be censored.

00:26:16.860 And when you're putting it into the hands of a small group of people, you're really letting other people decide for you.

00:26:21.860 And I also think in that sense, it's a form of laziness.

00:26:24.860 The same thing about gun control.

00:26:26.860 I don't want me or you to have a gun, but I entrust in this other man who went to a college police foundation program for two years.

00:26:37.860 Most people don't have the capability of thinking beyond stage one.

00:26:42.860 Thomas Sowell has a book on it. I forgot the name of the book.

00:26:45.860 But he explains the policies that were introduced in Canada, I'm sorry, in the United States, that were, you know, how it was like stage one.

00:26:56.860 You know, oh, we're going to rescue the poor by building housing, for example.

00:27:01.860 And then, but this is just stage one thinking.

00:27:04.860 And then if you have the stage two thinking, you would know the economic consequences of that.

00:27:09.860 And then the stage three thinking would be the, you know, you know, they're like stages of thinking.

00:27:15.860 You can't just operate with stage one thinking.

00:27:17.860 You have to think beyond. You have to think long term.

00:27:20.860 I was talking to one of our editors, cameraman, everything.

00:27:26.860 Everybody's everything now at this company.

00:27:28.860 Matt Brevner.

00:27:29.860 And about how sometimes he gets questioned about his ideology versus his, you know, his ethnic background and his appearance.

00:27:38.860 Do you ever get people criticizing you saying, hey, you're Turkish, you're non-white.

00:27:43.860 How come you work for this company? How come you believe these things?

00:27:46.860 Does that even happen to you? Does the opportunity ever come up?

00:27:49.860 That happened to me at Kingston when those gang members were attacking us.

00:27:54.860 And it happened at the City Hall when other gang members were attacking us.

00:28:01.860 They were saying, yeah, you're not even white.

00:28:03.860 I'm like, what does that have to do with anything?

00:28:05.860 I think because in their mind, in their eco-bubble, in their small closed mind, they think that everybody acts according to the benefit of their group.

00:28:16.860 And that's how it ought to be. Everybody should stick with their group.

00:28:20.860 But what group? Like what are you talking about?

00:28:24.860 You know, me? I have like Turkish blood. I have Armenian blood. I have Slavic blood and so on and so forth.

00:28:30.860 Like I'm all over the place. And then I got, you know, I live in Canada. I'm dual citizen.

00:28:39.860 My family background is Muslim. I'm not Muslim. I kind of quit. 1.00

00:28:45.860 So like there's all that. And then, you know, like how are you going to put me in a box? How are you going to classify me?

00:28:52.860 You know, you're not going to accurately classify me. I can't accurately classify you or anybody, any other individual.

00:29:00.860 Because we're all individuals.

00:29:02.860 That's a good point. Now, when we talk about individuals and classifying people, I want to segue that to the Montreal police who have no problem doing that.

00:29:12.860 They've shown to our cameramen and our reporters that they have no problem saying you're Jew media.

00:29:17.860 No problem saying what do you think you're doing out here? What's your reasoning for doing out there?

00:29:21.860 So I want to quickly cut to some of the coverage we had because it's been crazy.

00:29:26.860 The lockdown slash curfew coverage in Montreal, which Mocha was a huge part of.

00:29:31.860 So let's cut to that for a moment.

00:29:36.860 Hey, what's going on? Hey, what's going on? Are you taking me?

00:29:41.860 Don't fight back! Don't fight back!

00:29:44.860 I don't revolve you.

00:29:47.860 This is like, we're documenting what's happening here, guys.

00:29:56.860 So this is what's going on. They left shining the lights at me.

00:29:59.860 So a lot of that stuff, Mocha, the police are flashing lights in your guys' eyes so you can't record stuff.

00:30:05.860 Again, making like, and I'm not one to throw around anti-Semitism, but like calling people Jew media is not exactly something that's becoming of a police officer.

00:30:15.860 So they're doing anything they can to criticize you guys and stop you from filming.

00:30:19.860 Why is that in your opinion?

00:30:21.860 And have you ever experienced anything like that before with, you know, curfews, as if the 8.30 to 9.30 difference really does anything?

00:30:29.860 What's your thoughts on all of that?

00:30:30.860 Montreal, Quebec is really something different in terms of when you compare to other cities and provinces in Canada.

00:30:41.860 It's not only the building structure, the city planning is European looking, the police is also a little bit like that.

00:30:52.860 In fact, the police acts like Turkish police in Turkey.

00:30:57.860 In Turkey, the police doesn't also like being recorded, whether you're a journalist or not.

00:31:02.860 And just, you pulled me to the studio, I was actually editing my interview with Alex Bose, the man who was choked for not wearing a mask by the Montreal police.

00:31:13.860 And he was just standing there recording them and they grabbed him using not wearing a mask in a demonstration as a excuse to assault him.

00:31:26.860 And when I shared that video around on Twitter, it reached to international audience and Americans who have no idea what's going on in Canada.

00:31:36.860 They said, there must be more to this. There must be something you're not showing to us.

00:31:42.860 He must have done something. He must have said something to deserve that kind of arrest, let alone, you know, reason being the mask.

00:31:52.860 So they just almost can't believe that we're actually going through this thing where police can.

00:32:00.860 It's like what people complain about in major cities in the U.S. where people randomly being pulled over, whether you agree with that or not.

00:32:08.860 It's I'm going to find something to charge you with, essentially, isn't it?

00:32:12.860 Yeah. But I think he attracted police station out of thousands of other people who were not wearing masks there because he was recording.

00:32:20.860 I 100% believe that. And I will attest to that because when I first come to Montreal to cover a lockdown protest, while I was recording the police detaining a gentleman for not wearing a mask.

00:32:38.860 And I was recording this from afar from the protest and afar from the police. I was like in the middle.

00:32:44.860 And there are like hundreds of people passing by, just ordinary people not wearing masks.

00:32:50.860 The sergeant itself, who later raided our boat, the same sergeant, he came all the way up to me.

00:32:58.860 Like we were foot to foot. He came so close to me. And I said, hey, can you step two meters apart?

00:33:04.860 So I move backwards and then he grabs my arm. And then when I start recording with my phone, because I had the zoom lens on my camera, so with my phone it's like you can't see everything.

00:33:16.860 And I'm telling him that he's assaulting me. He's pulling me. He pulled me to the police area and then gave me a ticket.

00:33:22.860 And then later on that day, there was another camera person, not with Rebel News, but he was wearing his mask.

00:33:30.860 But later on, I found out that he was getting arrested now. And I've seen him at other protests later on.

00:33:38.860 He's not a violent person. And the police made him wear his mask with their hands.

00:33:44.860 They put the mask on him, which is not OK because his hands were handcuffed.

00:33:51.860 So if you're not able to remove your mask or put your mask or adjust your mask, you are not supposed to wear it.

00:33:59.860 It's true. And there's a clip of you as well. I think it's the French police there trying to give you a mask.

00:34:06.860 And you take it from their bare hands.

00:34:08.860 As always, they do that to all the people who they find.

00:34:11.860 As if it makes any sense.

00:34:12.860 I think it's a policy that if they find someone, they have to give them a mask.

00:34:16.860 But this is not just, you know, can you please wear it? No.

00:34:20.860 It's like, you will wear this mask or we're going to write you another $50, $50 ticket or we're going to jail you.

00:34:28.860 So it's an upfront threat. And that happened when, I think it was March 27, when me, Lincoln and Efron were headed to another lockdown protest in Montreal.

00:34:40.860 And there was a lot of traffic, so we were a little late, but the protest didn't start yet.

00:34:46.860 Lincoln drops us off in front of the protest.

00:34:50.860 We don't even get into the protest yet.

00:34:52.860 It's been just two minutes.

00:34:56.860 And we're just recording from afar, from the protest, two police officers walking towards us.

00:35:04.860 And we're recording them because they're looking for someone who's not wearing a mask.

00:35:08.860 Well, they didn't dive into the protest area, given that they were only two police officers and they have, I believe, a quota to fill.

00:35:18.860 And they came all the way up to us when they saw us recording them.

00:35:23.860 And then they came up to us, they grabbed us and gave us tickets.

00:35:28.860 And then with their naked hands, they tried to basically gave us contaminated masks.

00:35:36.860 And what do we have? A police force. And you know, I asked the police, I emailed the media relations and they wouldn't respond to me.

00:35:42.860 They said, we don't comment on these issues.

00:35:45.860 There's just so much hypocrisy and they obviously target people who are recording.

00:35:51.860 And I might, if I might add, you might just say, hey, why don't you just wear the mask, you know, just wear the mask and record it.

00:35:58.860 I did that. I wore my gas mask, which doesn't protect you from COVID, but it passes through.

00:36:03.860 You know, the police doesn't care. They don't even know.

00:36:06.860 The mask they're wearing outside doesn't even protect them.

00:36:10.860 But this time, later on that day, after we were, I didn't wear the mask that they gave me because I said, you touched that with your naked hands.

00:36:20.860 But later on, as we were recording someone getting arrested, Efron got arrested.

00:36:29.860 And then, so they made their threats. So if we were to wear those contaminated masks, there wouldn't be a problem.

00:36:37.860 He got arrested. And then Lincoln got arrested. And then all the while I was wearing my mask.

00:36:45.860 And because it's a big mask that I was wearing, because the police uses pepper spray and tear gas at those protests, I removed the mask like this down to my chin so that I can speak.

00:37:01.860 And I said, why are you arrested? Why are you arresting two members of the media? Because it's outrageous.

00:37:08.860 And the, who appeared to be the, in charge of the riot police there, the cop came up to me and said, put back your mask. Put up your mask back.

00:37:23.860 And for two seconds, I did it. And then psychologically, I'm like, no, you're not, you're not obedient. What are you doing?

00:37:30.860 So I removed it. I said, no, I'm not doing it. Because there's no one around me. I'm on the sidewalk. The protest has passed, has long passed.

00:37:38.860 And I'm trying to ask a question. I just put down the mask so that I can speak. And you're not going to just come up to me and say, put the mask up.

00:37:47.860 I don't care if you're a police officer or whoever. I don't care if you're Justin Trudeau. I don't care if you're, you know, whoever you are.

00:37:54.860 And so, I said, what are you going to do? Are you going to arrest me? Come and arrest me. Go ahead. Go ahead and arrest me. Why?

00:38:02.860 Because I put my mask two seconds to talk? I don't listen to you. Come arrest me. Come arrest me. Go ahead. Come. Go arrest.

00:38:09.860 And you're going to arrest me over that? I'm not, I don't obey you. Come and arrest me, I said.

00:38:14.860 And that's what they did. And they threw away my phone so that I wouldn't be able to record afterwards while they were coercing me to put my hands on top of my phone.

00:38:23.860 Put my hands on top of the police cruiser while one officer is holding my arm. And he threw away my phone.

00:38:30.860 And that officer was speaking in French, blah, blah, blah, rebel news. And then he started speaking in English.

00:38:37.860 He told me, a real journalist, if you were a real journalist, you wouldn't be arguing with the police.

00:38:45.860 And then he looked at my press pass like this. He said, you know, anyone can print that.

00:38:50.860 And then as they were letting me go, I said, can I just say one thing? They said, yeah.

00:38:57.860 I said, remember your oath. And then I walked back. And you know, one officer was asking me, what's your postal code?

00:39:03.860 And I'm like, I don't remember. I have to check. And he said, oh, how old are you?

00:39:06.860 You know, trying to make a joke that I don't remember the postal code.

00:39:10.860 I wish I said this, but I didn't. I should have right there and down said, well, how old are you?

00:39:16.860 You look like 35 years old, yet you don't remember your oath.

00:39:19.860 It's a very scary situation when an adult man just thinks that he has an innate power over you.

00:39:29.860 I don't agree with that. I can get into my opinions on that at all.

00:39:32.860 Yes, I believe in respecting the law to a degree.

00:39:35.860 But when it comes to things like that, like do what I say, even though it makes no sense,

00:39:40.860 or else you're going to get arrested, I can't stand for that.

Rebel News Podcast - June 18, 2021

ANDREW CHAPADOS ｜ Mocha Bezirgan： Is Canada worse than an Islamic regime？

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