EZRA LEVANT ｜ Our women’s rights billboard truck triggered a hate-crime investigation
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
3
sentences flagged
Toxicity
4
sentences flagged
Hate speech
11
sentences flagged
Summary
Ezra Levant tells the story of how a cop called in a hate crime against a Rebel News billboard truck in Torontonon, Ontario, Canada, for a "Hate Crime" message on the side of the road.
Transcript
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and this is the coffee to brew rebel news i don't want to point you started filming me
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i'm feeling unsafe don't call me sir and i don't want to talk to you at all what's your problem
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with the truck. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't take me. Someone called the police for this. I mean,
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everyone's entitled to public opinion. Shame on you, you censorious bug.
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Ezra Levant here for Rebel News. I'm standing in front of our big, beautiful
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billboard truck, which has such a lovely message on it. For the last few days, we've been running
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an ad for a girls' rights movement called Cosbar. That's the name of the advertiser, Canadian women's
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sex-based rights organization. Women and girls deserve safety on the field, privacy and dignity
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in the locker room, and fairness on the podium. It's a gorgeous ad. In fact, we drove the truck
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downtown toronto there was a big ball game going on and it was on the soccer final so there was a
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ton of sports aficionados on the street and this truck was so well received so we kept the message
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on just because we like those guys and our truck driver was here on st clair ab in toronto and he
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was about to drive away and then a cop said whoa stop don't go why what happened well our truck
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driver mark called me immediately mark come on over you called me i raced down here tell me what
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happened you were about to drive our big beautiful billboard truck away you drive you put thousands
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of miles on that thing but a cop said no tens of thousands cops said don't go why you weren't
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parked illegally you weren't doing anything wrong what was going on so i was just basically driving
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along here in a perfect parking spot like in this you know right by the pole the last parking spot
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you know available legally right by the bus stop and I had to use the washroom I wanted to get a
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coffee a little something to eat so I parked went in about I would say 15 minutes later I come back
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out and I noticed there's a one cop car sitting behind the truck and there's a gentleman Asian
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looking gentleman standing there on the sidewalk talking to him I didn't think it had anything to
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do with the truck I thought maybe you know something had gone on that I didn't see or who
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knows right so i just get in the truck to casually drive away i put the engine on i see the cop get
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out come toward my window and he says to me um don't go anywhere the truck has to stay here
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you're being investigated for a hate crime a hate crime is that the words he used the words he used
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did he use it did he get any more particular or specific than that he just said that it's a hate
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crime and that we have to investigate so oh my god so there was one car now a second car arrives
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too this obviously is a policing priority there's a crime wave in toronto right now home invasions
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tons of auto theft gun gangland shooting but apparently two cop cars are needed at one point
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it was three actually oh my god three cop cars well you know they were taken off of less important
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work like home invasions so did the cops ask you any questions did they ask you about the truck
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what did they say to you he didn't even ask me for my id or driver's license or anything he he
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just said that you're being investigated for a hate crime and we have to investigate it's not
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funny it was obviously in reference to the the message on the truck yes okay now you called me
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and I'm really glad you did I was about 40 minutes away I got in my car and I raced down here but I
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told my colleagues including Efron Monsanto and Lincoln Jay they came here a lot quicker than me
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because they were about 20 minutes closer let me call in Lincoln and have him fill in the rest of
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the story mark i'm so glad you called lincoln uh you and efron were about 20 minutes away
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so you got here pretty quick tell me what you saw when you arrived basically we pulled up parked
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across the street came over two police cars uh were behind the truck and uh you know me and efron
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and i came over started filming and you know we're filming the police cars just getting some footage
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did you talk to them yet or are you just filming no they were inside the car and then as we're
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filming the police cars the individual who allegedly called the police started filming us
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and asking us what we're doing and what did you say basically we didn't really say anything and
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then when we started pointing the camera at him he starts getting really upset that we're filming
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him runs to the police start saying he feels unsafe he's basically like begging them to come
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out police come out the police are kind of like what's the issue here and the police tell the
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gentlemen they have every right to film which is pretty awesome that they said
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that do you want my name I don't know why are you playing I can tell you my
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name I don't want to play you started filming me you started filming me yeah
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because you were filming them so why are you worried police or so I'm feeling
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Oh, okay, I'll just do it back to you. It's all good.
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They're allowed to tape you, it's a public space.
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Basically, he kept saying he felt unsafe, he felt unsafe.
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And then the police bring him over to the grass here.
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They asked us kindly, just, you know, give us space for a minute, which is fine.
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They walked over about 10, 15 feet, and you can hear the guy, like, begging the police to do something, right?
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After the police, I guess, told them there's no hate crime here, go on with your day.
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Did the police interact with you and Efron at all?
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Not really, other than saying we have every right to film.
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and afterwards the police actually asked if you were coming,
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You know, the cop actually seemed like a good guy.
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doing their job properly and defending free speech, actually.
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Don't call me sir, and I don't want to talk to you at all.
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The police officer just told us that it's simply a political message.
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It's not a hate crime or whatever the gentleman that I'm assuming called the police insinuated.
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I could hear him talking to the police, you know, asking if it's a hate crime, etc.
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And obviously he didn't like the message on the truck.
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But I think they're just driving him home if I overheard correctly.
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In fact, in the car on the way down, I called our criminal lawyer, Leora Shemesh, who's defended us before.
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And I and I said, we may be in a hate crime situation with the truck.
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So I I wanted to come down sort of armed and ready, not armed physically, but armed legally.
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So when I got here, it looks like, as you say, the cops humored the guy once he calmed out.
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You know, I understand they actually gave him a ride home.
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Yeah, he went into the back of the police car, which I'm assuming is because he felt, quote unquote, unsafe.
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I heard the police say that they were giving him a ride home, so that's the reason that he was there.
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But, you know, the whole situation is just quite hilarious.
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The guy, I want to emphasize, the guy starts filming us, we start filming him,
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and then he's basically scared that we're filming him after he's filming us and runs to the cops.
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Who would be mad about that news, that ad, other than someone who demands the right to go into?
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I mean, I don't know who this guy is, but how on earth could you get mad at this message?
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And, you know, I'm glad to hear that the cops were reasonable.
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And Mark just said they didn't demand ID from him.
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In my mind, I thought, oh, brother, because we've had this truck going full tilt for a couple years now.
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But it sounds like the cops really were just handling a troublemaker.
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And it sounds like in the end they didn't really do any bad stuff to us other than making us wait a few minutes.
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And we had the same feeling, Efron and I, when we were driving over.
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We didn't really know what to expect, you know, after Mark contacted the team
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and let them know that the police pulled him over.
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But, you know, as you said earlier, like, who would be upset with this message?
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And we tried to talk to some people walking by, get their opinions on it.
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We got one gentleman to chime in, and he said, what's the problem?
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It's a political message, you know, and it's a waste of police resources.
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As long as you're not harming anybody, I think it's fine.
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Yeah, do you think it's a bit extreme that somebody would actually call the police
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because of this message, simply saying that men should not be competing in women's sports?
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The police is here to protect the general public.
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You're here on the side of the road, so I don't know if you're harming anybody.
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Oh, remind our viewers, and I don't know if you know this, Lincoln.
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And renting is a good way to go because you can choose the city.
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Mark drove this thing all the way out to Alberta.
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It would have been, in some ways, I mean, we did a lot of work there.
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But my point is we used to rent from this town, from that town.
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But when it came to talking about Hamas terrorists in Canada,
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none of the trucking companies wanted to rent to us.
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And they said, we don't disagree with your message.
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We just don't want to have our big, beautiful trucks broken.
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So that is why we got the truck to stop being censored.
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they probably would have been scared of that transgender activist.
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a couple months ago of a guy who pulls up next to the trans police car.
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There's a Toronto Police Service police car in the trans colors,
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The guy who was filming rolled down his window and said,
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are you a police car, or do you just identify as a police car?
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That's a funny joke to come up with in the spur of the moment.
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i'm not sure how that ended but it wouldn't surprise me if he got
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charged for a hate crime for making a funny joke about i'll have to look that up but in 2026 if you
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cross the trans activists get ready to be sued and prosecuted and so i'm glad it wasn't a tough
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test today but we passed the test and all credit goes to mark our truck driver who didn't blink and
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he knew what to do call for backup efron thanks very much for for hopping to i called you on my
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way down and you came here i'm really glad you moved quickly because by the time i got here the
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cops were gone you heard mark and lincoln tell the tale was there anything they left out you know
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from first experience just from filming immediately what happened is that as a response from us
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filming the officers in the first place he came to the defense of the officers
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asking why are you filming them why are you the complainer didn't want you talking to the cops
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they didn't want us to for whatever reason film the officers in their cars and see what's going
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on just for our viewers to know what exactly is going on and the second thing i'd like to bring
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up today it's kind of causal concerning is that the fact that you know everyone can make a complaint
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everyone has their political views and opinions but the fact that an officer used their discretion
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to immediately call to action and pull over mark or stop the truck and investigate immediately for
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a hate crime that is very concerning extremely concerning whether it's the passing of bill c9
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currently now maybe it's a change of police work but you know if everyone's sort of making
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complaints about what they feel like is a hate crime towards them what's the point of policing
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at that point you know that's a good point perhaps i was too gentle on the police i do note they did
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they didn't ticket mark they didn't grill him they didn't even demand his id so i don't want to
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overreact but by the same token can i stop any car out there that offends my politics
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put yourself in the cop shoes though maybe they would have got a complaint with internal affairs
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if they didn't serve this there's such a transgender lobby it wouldn't surprise me
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that they were going through these motions knowing it was all bs just to avoid some complaint it's a
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pickle. I accept your point. Were these cops motivated to stop our vehicle by the fact that
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they know censorship is on the march? We'll run this truck a little bit longer just as a thumbs
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up to them and as an act of defiance for that hassle today. If you love this truck, if you have
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a political message or does it have to be politics, most users of these trucks are companies. I was
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talking to a guy who owned a truck he had a month-long contract I think it was
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with Sprite like the the soda pop so this truck is a wow factor it's got a
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big beautiful screen it's even more amazing at night because it's so high
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powered so if you want to turn lemons into lemonade there's no legal battle
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of foot here we managed to get out of it pretty easily but if you want to sign
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up for this truck, you can do that at savethetruck.com.
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A prominent organizer of pro-Hamas protests in Toronto has been charged with a serious
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terrorism-related offense, according to an official statement released by the Toronto
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scarlet grace with rebel news the toronto police working jointly with the rcmp's integrated
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national security enforcement team inset has charged 33 year old amad hassan hajimad who is
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also widely known as amad gerard with one count of participating in or contributing to the
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activities of a terrorist group under section 83.18 of the criminal code police allege that on may
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25th and September 7th, 2024, Hajimad attended pro-Palestine demonstrations in the Bay Street
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and Front Street West area of downtown Toronto. There, using amplification devices, he made public
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statements that advocated for the detestation and harm against members of the Israeli and Jewish
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communities. On March 7th, 2025, investigators executed a search warrant at a Toronto residence
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A subsequent joint investigation gathered evidence supporting the allegation
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that the accused acted for the benefit of and in association with Hamas,
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a group Canada has long designated as a terrorist entity since 2002.
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On July 20th, 2026, the Attorney General of Ontario and the Government of Canada
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He appeared in court that morning at the Ontario Court of Justice and has since been granted bail.
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Due to a court-imposed publication ban, police have not released any further details at this time.
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Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkew noted that investigations into criminal offences at demonstrations
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and that complex cases like this highlight the need to strengthen counter-terrorism efforts.
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The force thanked the RCMP's inset for its support.
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This development did not emerge overnight, though.
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Haj Amad has been a highly visible figure in Toronto's protest scene for years,
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organizing and leading multiple anti-Israel demonstrations,
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including events connected to the pro-Hamas encampment at the University of Toronto in 2024.
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He has been documented leading marches, speaking at encampments, donating Palestinian flags as part of coordinated efforts, and even liaising with police at times to facilitate demonstrations.
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In one widely circulated video from April 2025, Hajimad openly stated that he was at a particular event directly on the request of Hamas to organize a Day of Rage in Toronto.
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We stand as an answer to a call directly from our resistance in Gaza.
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They have called us to actually stand up and speak up and have a night of rage for what is happening in Gaza today.
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Other footage shows him describing his movement as an extension to the resistance in Palestine,
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He has also delivered speeches invoking classic anti-Semitic tropes about Zionist control over politicians and systems.
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All these Israeli and Zionist entities fill all these politicians with money in their pockets.
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And in order for us, the people, to go against that is to actually stand against this lobby.
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It's for us to unite to actually go financially against it.
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And has urged teaching children that the Zionist entity is the enemy,
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and that there is no such country called Israel.
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Teach your children that the resistance is an honor,
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and teach your children that there is no such country called Israel.
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This latest charge comes after almost three years of open and sustained support for Hamas
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For nearly three years, figures like Hajimat have operated publicly, organizing events, giving speeches, building profiles as protest leaders, and expressing explicit support for a terrorist organization, while authorities largely looked the other way.
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This appears to be the first time one of these prominent figures in the Toronto protest circuit has faced an actual terrorism-related offense.
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Previous incidents, such as the January 2025 smoke canister discharge at Union Station that led to mischief charges against Haj Amad and another individual, resulted in far lesser consequences.
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Yet the pattern of inflammatory rhetoric, disruption, and open alignment with Hamas continued unchecked for years.
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So how was someone with this level of public activity, these kinds of statements, and documented support of Hamas able to continue operating openly for so long without earlier intervention?
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What monitoring, if any, was taking place when individuals claimed to be acting on instructions from a designated terrorist group?
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Why does it often seem that clear warning signs repeated over nearly three years are only acted upon after significant public attention, documentation by citizens and journalists, or after the situation escalates to the point where charges become unavoidable?
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Designated terrorist groups like Hamas do not operate in isolation. They rely on supporters, organizers, and networks on the ground to advance their cause, maintain visibility, if you will.
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When individuals with this kind of track record are allowed to function openly for years, it erodes public confidence that authorities are taking these threats with the urgency the law already permits.
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Canadians have a right to expect that law enforcement will act on credible information about support for terrorist organizations in a timely manner, not years later.
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We also deserve transparency once charges are laid, including clear details on the allegations and the full timeline of the investigation, even as the publication ban limits what can be said right now.
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There have been repeated warnings about certain individuals and groups involved in certain protest activity that crosses into support for terrorism or incitement, followed by relatively slow or limited institutional responses until the situation becomes impossible to ignore, even though it long was.
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After nearly three years of this environment, it's certainly notable that this is the first terrorism-related charge against one of these high-profile organizers.
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The public deserves answers. Why was this allowed to continue for so long?
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What changes, if any, will now be made in how similar cases are handled going forward?
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And will authorities finally treat support for designated terrorist groups with the seriousness the law already provides for?
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If you have a problem with this radical ideology being publicly supported and spewed in our streets,
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head to DeportHamas.com, sign the petition, add your name to our efforts, and please chip in if you can.
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That is DeportHamas.com if you believe that people who come here should not be allowed to openly support designated terrorist groups.