Rebel News Podcast - November 15, 2019


PROOF： “The state of journalism in 2019 is worse than you think”

Topics
Sessions protests Northwestern students protesting Jeff Sessions law firm abuse
Hosted by
Ezra Levant
Mentioned
Tommy Robinson Jeff Sessions F.U.C.K. Sessions Donald Trump Daily Morton Shapiro Don Cherry MI5, MI6 Northwestern
CTV reporter attacks Don Cherry — and makes a racist comment. Should she be fired too？ Rebel Roundup with guests Sheila Gunn Reid and Keean Bexte

Episode Stats


Length

32 minutes

Words per minute

151.46

Word count

4,848

Sentence count

376

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Toxicity

11

sentences flagged

Hate speech

3

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode of The Ezra LeVant Show, host Ezra Levenoran tells the story of a crazy story out of Northwestern University, where a conservative speaker was invited to campus to give a speech, and the left had a problem with it.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Hey Rebels, today I tell you a story out of Illinois, Northwestern University to be precise.
00:00:06.080 It's a crazy story. It's a fun story. It's an American story, but I think it's a Canadian story too.
00:00:13.260 You'll be the judge of that. Before I go, may I invite you to become a premium member of The Rebel.
00:00:19.620 Go to premium.rebelnews.com. It's eight bucks a month, and you get the video version of this podcast,
00:00:25.920 which I think is great. All right, here's today's show.
00:00:30.000 Tonight, I want to show you the state of journalism in 2019. No, it's worse than you think.
00:00:50.680 It's November 14th, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.
00:00:55.520 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
00:00:59.040 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
00:01:03.380 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I'm publishing it is because it's my bloody right to do so.
00:01:14.040 Do you know the name Jeff Sessions? He used to be a U.S. senator, really one of the first to endorse Donald Trump
00:01:21.680 in the Republican primaries a few years back.
00:01:25.020 That really helped Trump. It was a sign that someone in the establishment took him seriously,
00:01:31.240 and that someone with strong conservative bona fides believed Trump was a conservative.
00:01:36.600 You have to remember, back in 2015 especially, most Republicans took Trump as if not a joke,
00:01:44.600 just a lighthearted, also-ran, maybe some sort of performance art, something unserious.
00:01:50.860 No one could believe that it could happen, especially in those early days.
00:01:55.260 There was, what, more than a dozen candidates.
00:01:57.180 And people thought maybe he was even un-Republican.
00:02:02.640 But Jeff Sessions, in his early endorsement, was a significant counterpoint to that.
00:02:08.760 And Trump rewarded Sessions by appointing him Attorney General, where he served for 18 months.
00:02:16.720 He took a hard line on some issues, very conservative.
00:02:19.980 For example, Jeff Sessions really opposed so-called sanctuary cities, where local politicians just declare
00:02:26.320 they won't enforce immigration laws, even against violent criminals.
00:02:30.700 Anyways, Sessions served.
00:02:33.300 Trump grew tired of him and sacked him.
00:02:35.680 And wouldn't you know it, now Sessions is looking to get back into the Alabama Senate.
00:02:40.760 I sort of like this campaign ad.
00:02:43.140 Jeff Sessions here. I approved this ad.
00:02:45.720 When I left President Trump's cabinet, did I write a tell-all book?
00:02:50.000 No.
00:02:50.780 Did I go on CNN and attack the president?
00:02:53.440 Nope.
00:02:54.440 Have I said a crossword about our president?
00:02:57.160 Not one time.
00:02:58.460 And I'll tell you why.
00:03:00.080 First, that would be dishonorable.
00:03:02.220 I was there to serve his agenda, not mine.
00:03:05.860 Second, the president's doing a great job for America and Alabama.
00:03:10.860 And he has my strong support.
00:03:13.000 Trump is being mean to Sessions, to use a word.
00:03:15.900 But I thought that was a pretty high-minded response by Sessions.
00:03:19.300 I don't know if he'll win.
00:03:21.000 I don't think he's Trump's favorite, but there it is.
00:03:23.840 Anyways, whatever you think of Jeff Sessions, he's a man of consequence.
00:03:28.080 He's former attorney general of his own state, former U.S. attorney.
00:03:32.360 He was a senator in Washington for a decade, then Trump's attorney general.
00:03:35.500 Or maybe you think he's a footnote.
00:03:37.420 But the Republican Student Club at a university in Illinois called Northwestern University,
00:03:44.200 they thought Sessions was interesting enough to invite to campus to give a speech.
00:03:47.600 And if you don't think so, don't go.
00:03:50.560 Or go and protest, whatever.
00:03:52.240 I don't know.
00:03:53.360 Of course, as usual, the left on campus had a freakout.
00:03:57.740 Here are some details about their reaction, as published by the student newspaper called
00:04:02.060 The Daily Northwestern.
00:04:04.260 Over 150 students protested the event, some holding signs and others chanting F.U.C.K. Sessions.
00:04:13.540 Protesters also stormed the back entrance to Lutkin and attempted to enter the hall by climbing
00:04:20.780 through windows and opening doors.
00:04:23.900 University police officers followed students into Lutkin, knocking some protesters to the
00:04:29.020 ground and pushing others out.
00:04:30.920 And here's the university's president, Morton Shapiro, as reported in the newspaper.
00:04:38.760 Unlike other colleges, Northwestern University PD prevented the protests from fully disrupting
00:04:44.700 Sessions' speech effectively, Shapiro said.
00:04:47.900 Quote,
00:04:48.700 The police force showed tremendous restraint and professionalism to make sure that people
00:04:52.680 couldn't rush in, he said.
00:04:54.280 I wish it could have gone better.
00:04:55.940 We have a responsibility for a speaker.
00:04:57.720 I'm not a fan of the former attorney general, but he's not going to get hurt at my campus.
00:05:03.480 Although some universities grant amnesty to student protesters, Shapiro emphasized that
00:05:07.800 Northwestern has no such policy.
00:05:09.800 He said NU makes the rules of engagement very clear.
00:05:13.200 You can protest, you can't hurt anybody, and you can't shut down speech.
00:05:18.240 And if you do, you're going to face the consequences.
00:05:20.440 I think that's much more enlightened than many other universities where they cave in to the
00:05:26.100 cancelers and the de-platformers and the violent thugs.
00:05:29.040 I sort of like that guy, just based on what I read here.
00:05:33.240 Now, of course, the student government at Northwestern is as awful as you'd imagine.
00:05:38.300 Hardcore left-wing, of course, grievance mongers.
00:05:42.080 Here's a story in the Northwestern.
00:05:43.460 ASG introduces resolution following Sessions protests to support students of marginalized
00:05:51.080 identities.
00:05:51.740 Let me read this from the student paper.
00:05:55.340 In response to student protests against former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' speech
00:05:59.500 at Northwestern, the Associated Student Government introduced an emergency resolution during its
00:06:06.320 November 6th session to provide students with more time and resources.
00:06:10.980 The resolution, which passed 28 to 2, with two abstention votes, called on the university
00:06:15.960 to reconsider attendance policies for students who hold marginalized identities and may have
00:06:22.440 been impacted by the protests, the legislation states.
00:06:26.100 It also seeks to expand comprehensive counseling and the Center for Awareness, Response, and Education.
00:06:34.000 As in, if you're a minority and Jeff Sessions hurt your feelings, you get special grief counselors and more
00:06:43.320 time to do your homework.
00:06:45.320 And I'm up-talking all of those sentences, because I'm sure that's how it was spoken at the university
00:06:51.440 student government, whose graduates will go on to be part of the real student government,
00:06:56.220 real government, grown-up government, soon enough.
00:06:58.540 Where do you think AOC came from?
00:07:00.120 Okay, what flavor of popcorn?
00:07:03.140 Um, this is just normal butter popcorn, but I have a secret.
00:07:10.920 I put ground pepper over my popcorn, and it adds a little, like, savory dimension.
00:07:19.200 It just makes, you know, like pop secret, but gourmet.
00:07:23.020 Anyways, so I didn't mention that Northwestern has what is regarded as one of the United States'
00:07:30.420 leading journalism schools.
00:07:32.640 It's true.
00:07:34.080 Which is why they also have a daily student newspaper.
00:07:36.980 So this isn't just a hobby or an extracurricular, this Northwestern, daily Northwestern paper I've
00:07:43.000 been quoting from.
00:07:43.600 It's training for baby journalists. 0.66
00:07:46.300 Here's one of their student reporters covering Jeff Sessions' speech, or more accurately, covering
00:07:50.880 the protests outside.
00:07:53.020 Here's another one.
00:08:01.440 Protesters tried to rush the room where Sessions was speaking.
00:08:05.160 No justice, no peace.
00:08:10.920 No justice, no peace.
00:08:15.200 No justice, no peace.
00:08:19.480 No justice, no peace.
00:08:21.080 Okay, here's the report on the protests in the newspaper.
00:08:24.260 Really nothing about the speech itself.
00:08:26.740 Students protest Jeff Sessions' speech.
00:08:29.840 Police presence.
00:08:30.640 So let me read a little bit, because it's a window into what it's like on campuses these
00:08:34.780 days.
00:08:35.420 And I don't think it's much better up here in Canada.
00:08:37.920 Students on Tuesday protested Northwestern College Republicans' decision to host former
00:08:44.740 Attorney General Jeff Sessions, chanting outside Lutkin Hall before attempting to interrupt
00:08:50.280 Sessions' talk by climbing through open windows and pushing through doors.
00:08:55.000 Around 150 protesters, some holding signs reading, no concessions, no racism, no KKK, no fascist
00:09:01.960 USA. 0.91
00:09:02.400 And Sessions is a traitor, gathered outside the lecture hall before Sessions was scheduled 0.96
00:09:07.420 to speak at 7 p.m., booing and yelling as attendees entered the building. 0.71
00:09:11.680 Sessions' talk, hosted by NUCR, was titled The Real Meaning of the Trump Agenda.
00:09:17.320 Some protesters chanted, hey, hey, JBS, you got us into this mess.
00:09:22.320 And I-C-E-K-K-K, how many kids have you killed today? 0.97
00:09:27.380 While others called attendees clowns and urged them to stop disguising their racism as free 0.98
00:09:32.560 speech. 0.95
00:09:33.360 Okay. 0.95
00:09:34.520 So they're a bit crazy, or maybe more than a little bit crazy. 0.97
00:09:37.800 And they're lying, by the way. 0.95
00:09:40.600 In fact, I think I mentioned before that Sessions was a prosecutor back in Alabama before he was
00:09:47.080 a senator.
00:09:47.440 He's the one who, almost 40 years ago, filed civil rights charges against the KKK for killing
00:09:55.160 a black man.
00:09:56.860 That bankrupted the KKK in Alabama. 0.88
00:09:59.300 So yeah, sort of the opposite of a racist, but that's too much journalism-ing for Northwestern.
00:10:05.620 But look at this.
00:10:06.380 Look at this.
00:10:08.000 A few days after Sessions' visit, look at this editorial in the student newspaper, addressing
00:10:13.120 the Daily's coverage of Sessions' protests.
00:10:16.100 Okay.
00:10:17.440 What do you have to say?
00:10:20.260 Last week, the Daily was not the paper that Northwestern students deserve.
00:10:25.820 Huh?
00:10:27.200 On November 5th, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke on campus at a Northwestern
00:10:31.360 University College Republicans event.
00:10:33.380 The Daily sent a reporter to cover that talk, and another to cover the students protesting
00:10:37.780 his invitation to campus, along with a photographer.
00:10:40.120 We recognized that we contributed to the harm students experienced, and we wanted to apologize
00:10:52.540 for and address the mistakes that we made that night, along with how we plan to move forward.
00:10:58.180 I'm sorry.
00:10:58.720 I just read it.
00:11:00.780 What?
00:11:01.740 You were reporters.
00:11:02.680 You contributed to the harm.
00:11:03.960 You ran a story that was pretty much 100% in support of the protesters and against Sessions,
00:11:08.800 by the way.
00:11:09.260 What on earth do you mean?
00:11:10.180 Well, I'll read some more.
00:11:10.800 One area of our reporting that harmed many students was our photo coverage of the events.
00:11:17.780 Some protesters found the photos posted to reporters' Twitter accounts re-traumatizing
00:11:23.260 and invasive.
00:11:24.700 Those photos have since been taken down.
00:11:26.840 Sorry, guys.
00:11:27.540 On one hand, as the paper of record for Northwestern, we want to ensure students, administrators,
00:11:32.980 and alumni understand the gravity of the events that took place Tuesday night.
00:11:36.600 However, we decided to prioritize the trust and safety of students who were photographed.
00:11:42.360 We feel that covering traumatic events requires a different response than many other stories.
00:11:47.500 While our goal is to document history and spread information, nothing is more important
00:11:51.240 than ensuring that our fellow students feel safe.
00:11:54.460 And in situations like this, that they are benefiting from coverage rather than being
00:11:58.800 harmed actively, actively harmed by it.
00:12:00.800 We failed to do that last week, and we could not be more sorry.
00:12:03.900 Really?
00:12:04.580 You couldn't be more sorry.
00:12:05.960 This is the sorriest you could ever be in the whole world.
00:12:10.680 You know, that whole safe spaces thing, that whole triggering thing, I think that was
00:12:14.540 just supposed to be a meme or like a joke or sarcasm.
00:12:17.620 It's not unsafe to take photos of protesters.
00:12:21.780 That's actually why protesters protest.
00:12:25.420 It's why people bring signs to protest and have those rhyming chants.
00:12:30.260 They want to spread a message to the public.
00:12:33.020 It's why they're in public.
00:12:35.680 But get this.
00:12:37.760 Some students also voiced concern about the methods that daily staffers used to reach out
00:12:42.920 to them.
00:12:43.160 Oh, okay, this has got to be really bad.
00:12:44.740 Some of our staff members who were covering the event used Northwestern's directory to
00:12:51.740 obtain phone numbers for students beforehand and texted them to ask if they'd be willing
00:12:57.120 to be interviewed.
00:13:00.500 Okay, so where's the bad part?
00:13:03.220 We recognize being contacted like this is an invasion of privacy.
00:13:06.980 And we've spoken with those reporters along with our entire staff about the correct way
00:13:12.380 to reach out to students for stories.
00:13:15.660 So don't use phones or is it don't use phone books?
00:13:22.100 So you're saying journalists politely contacting people whose names are in a public phone directory
00:13:30.500 asking nicely in advance if they would like to be interviewed.
00:13:37.460 That's actually journalism.
00:13:40.140 Now, sometimes the answer to such a journalist inquiry is no or even to say no very rudely.
00:13:47.320 Hell no.
00:13:47.940 Oh, okay.
00:13:49.180 Well, that's part of journalism, too.
00:13:50.320 But to apologize?
00:13:53.220 That's an extremely long and boring op-ed by Northwestern, the Daily Northwestern.
00:13:57.380 And I keep thinking, this is satire, right?
00:13:59.700 This is like The Onion or the Babylon Bee or some joke?
00:14:03.100 No.
00:14:04.360 Unfortunately, the Daily Northwestern, let me read some more.
00:14:07.100 Ultimately, the Daily failed to consider our impact in our reporting surrounding Jeff Sessions.
00:14:13.580 We know we hurt students that night, especially those who identify with marginalized groups. 1.00
00:14:20.100 According to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics,
00:14:23.660 ethical journalism treats sources, subjects, colleagues, and members of the public as human beings deserving of respect.
00:14:31.140 So you're apologizing because by telling people what happened in the world,
00:14:35.940 you have hurt their feelings and they feel disrespected.
00:14:39.780 You know, maybe you did hurt their feelings.
00:14:42.720 Could be.
00:14:44.580 But if you care about that, you are in the wrong profession.
00:14:47.440 You should be in the bubble wrap business or the noise-canceling earphones business or,
00:14:53.220 I don't know, social work or vacation getaways or something where people can avoid bad things.
00:14:58.400 Anything, really.
00:14:59.440 Anything other than journalism.
00:15:01.100 Except that this is journalism by student journalists at one of the leading journalism schools in America,
00:15:09.300 so they say.
00:15:11.220 And these baby reporters are all about to graduate and go work in real newspapers and radio stations and TV stations
00:15:17.640 and websites around America,
00:15:20.440 which is reason 14 million why you can never trust the mainstream media.
00:15:27.660 It's just sad, too.
00:15:31.140 Don't you think?
00:15:32.980 Stay with us for more.
00:15:34.020 Hello, my friends.
00:15:47.440 Ezra Levant here.
00:15:48.460 Let me check what time it is.
00:15:49.900 It's 4.08 p.m.
00:15:53.400 Greenwich Mean Time,
00:15:54.780 which tells you that I'm in London in the United Kingdom.
00:15:57.780 I have just stepped into a vehicle outside the Royal Courts of Justice at which the High Court is located,
00:16:05.320 and I am now driving to Heathrow.
00:16:06.720 Hopefully, I'll make my flight,
00:16:08.380 though with the traffic the way it is in this country, you never know.
00:16:13.060 The reason I was in London is the reason I'm usually in London,
00:16:16.560 which is to cover the latest litigation involving our friend Tommy Robinson.
00:16:21.460 When I was last out here, I was actually in Luton, which is Tommy's hometown,
00:16:27.400 about 45 minutes north of London, an hour north.
00:16:31.420 And that was when the police and prosecution were suing Tommy to ban him from attending any football game in the United Kingdom,
00:16:39.980 or as they call it here, they call it football, what we call in North America, soccer.
00:16:44.280 I thought that was a bizarre case.
00:16:45.800 It was the Crown Prosecution Service.
00:16:49.220 It was the police.
00:16:50.100 It was literally the state deciding that Tommy Robinson was the most dangerous person
00:16:57.080 because he goes to those football games, and we better stop that.
00:17:02.320 You got 23,000 jihadis running around this country,
00:17:08.500 according to MI5, MI6, one of those MIs.
00:17:12.600 But Tommy Robinson going to football games was what they were prosecuting for.
00:17:17.340 That's what I was doing in Luton about a month ago.
00:17:19.760 But a couple of days ago, Tommy Robinson called me up and said,
00:17:23.180 as I've got this civil litigation against me at the high court,
00:17:27.280 it's a defamation case where a young Syrian migrant, who's a student,
00:17:33.840 purportedly attacked a British girl at school.
00:17:40.360 Sorry, it's a little bit bumpy, so the camera's jiggling around.
00:17:43.300 So Tommy reported on this, as he says he took the other side of the story.
00:17:48.800 And the kid, his name is Jamal, sued Tommy for a defamation.
00:17:57.980 And that's what we were in court for today.
00:18:02.440 But we weren't here for a substantive hearing.
00:18:07.720 We didn't actually get into the substance of the case.
00:18:13.960 We didn't hear any witnesses.
00:18:15.260 There was no testimony.
00:18:16.340 What it was instead was the lawyers,
00:18:23.240 they talked about one of the issues regarding the witnesses for about 10 minutes.
00:18:27.820 But then for about an hour and a half,
00:18:29.440 the lawyers talked with each other and with the judge about their fees.
00:18:35.780 I've never seen anything like it in my life.
00:18:38.000 I'm a former lawyer myself, and of course I've been involved in litigation,
00:18:42.400 both giving and receiving, in North America and even in other countries.
00:18:49.800 But I have never seen a thing like I saw today.
00:18:54.300 So the litigation is in its early stages.
00:18:58.860 The trial has not happened yet.
00:19:00.060 And yet there were five lawyers in the room,
00:19:03.660 and they were calling for more lawyers.
00:19:06.140 There was a proposal to have seven lawyers on this case.
00:19:10.660 And the lawyers were talking with each other and with a judge called the Master
00:19:14.300 about what their fees would be.
00:19:18.120 And they were haggling.
00:19:20.240 So it was basically Tommy and even Jamal,
00:19:26.520 they really weren't the subject of the conversation today.
00:19:30.060 And it was about the lawyers making sure they got well paid.
00:19:35.580 It was about 10 minutes about the case.
00:19:37.960 So we were all in this little office of this kind of a judge called a Master.
00:19:43.780 And it was very small and very intimate.
00:19:45.600 It was really a big desk.
00:19:48.920 And the senior lawyers were right up against the desk across from the judge.
00:19:52.840 And then there was another row of three more lawyers and Tommy.
00:19:58.380 And then there was me, one other journalist from an alt-left news agency called Press Association,
00:20:06.480 a Tommy supporter, and then a security guy.
00:20:09.120 So it was very, very small in there.
00:20:11.080 It was only less than a dozen people.
00:20:12.740 And for 90 minutes, the lawyers said, well, I want to get paid for this.
00:20:18.080 I want to get paid for that.
00:20:19.120 And he shouldn't be able to bill for this.
00:20:20.760 And he shouldn't be able to bill for that.
00:20:22.480 And they were all gathered for the feast.
00:20:25.600 And it was really three lawyers talking about seven lawyers getting paid.
00:20:30.320 And when I say three lawyers, I am including the Master,
00:20:33.500 because, of course, she's a former lawyer, is a lawyer.
00:20:35.540 It was quite something.
00:20:38.940 And the figures they were coming up with were so staggeringly large.
00:20:43.680 Like I say, I've been involved in litigation in various jurisdictions.
00:20:47.700 I was never happy.
00:20:49.000 But if I, and I'm just, there were so many numbers thrown out.
00:20:52.640 But the final number that the Master approved for the plaintiffs,
00:20:58.980 I don't remember it in pounds.
00:21:02.500 I converted it immediately to Canadian dollars,
00:21:04.700 because that's what I understand.
00:21:06.480 It was 580,000 Canadian dollars.
00:21:09.860 I tweeted it.
00:21:10.560 So forgive me if I'm not 100% accurate here.
00:21:13.100 There were so many numbers thrown out.
00:21:15.160 You can check my Twitter feed,
00:21:17.900 which is twitter.com slash Ezra Levant for the exactitudes.
00:21:20.820 So more than half a million for the plaintiff's lawyers,
00:21:26.560 if this thing goes all the way, and if they win.
00:21:29.900 I can assure you, although I shouldn't say that now,
00:21:33.040 because this is making me question what I thought I knew about the British legal system,
00:21:37.920 that Jamal will not get that amount of money if he wins.
00:21:40.580 And I don't know if he'll win at all.
00:21:42.280 But this is a feast for lawyers.
00:21:45.320 There were five lawyers in the room,
00:21:46.800 and there was a suggestion that there ought to be seven lawyers.
00:21:51.600 At trial.
00:21:53.280 And I guess that's just how it is.
00:21:57.400 What they, the barrister, the one who argues in the court,
00:22:01.100 and the solicitor is the one who does the groundwork.
00:22:03.540 In Canada and the United States, there is no distinction.
00:22:06.980 You're a lawyer, just a lawyer.
00:22:08.380 You do all sorts of work.
00:22:10.040 I can see now why they have that split profession.
00:22:13.560 So they can have more people milking the cow.
00:22:16.640 So they can have more piggies at the trough. 1.00
00:22:19.340 And listen, I'm sure all the lawyers in the room were outstanding lawyers.
00:22:22.560 But I have just never in my life seen such insane bills on both sides.
00:22:29.020 And I've never seen the money being sorted out as the first issue.
00:22:36.480 And then the legal case itself comes later.
00:22:38.800 I mean, in Canada, which I'm most familiar with,
00:22:41.480 is that once a case is all done,
00:22:45.020 the lawyers can then say to the judge,
00:22:46.900 well, here's how it went.
00:22:47.660 We won a little bit for this, and we won a little bit for that.
00:22:49.600 And typically, even the winning side gets just a fraction of what they spent.
00:22:54.220 Unless the behavior by the other side was so egregious,
00:22:58.500 you just get partial fees.
00:23:01.120 But here, the amount of money they were getting approved in advance
00:23:05.320 was staggering.
00:23:08.420 I've just never seen anything like it.
00:23:12.160 And the fact that the lawyers were all discussing this
00:23:16.660 and pleading their own cases to a judge,
00:23:20.540 they weren't pleading Jamal's case or Tommy's case.
00:23:23.800 The lawyers were pleading their own case,
00:23:26.480 the case of how much they should get paid.
00:23:28.020 I have to tell you, I'm slightly demoralized by the whole thing
00:23:31.260 and more than slightly grossed out.
00:23:35.460 And I guess that goes to what this lawsuit's really about.
00:23:38.300 The process is the punishment.
00:23:41.280 This defamation case is not about a young Syrian migrant
00:23:44.860 whose reputation was harmed.
00:23:46.700 I don't believe that's what this case is about.
00:23:48.760 I believe it's about throwing anything at Tommy
00:23:52.360 and seeing what'll stick.
00:23:53.780 I mean, Tommy's not a threat to the football games either,
00:23:56.260 but they're prosecuting him there.
00:23:57.840 They'll throw literally anything they can at him.
00:24:00.760 And when I say they, I mean the establishment
00:24:02.500 or this plaintiff's law firm.
00:24:06.960 It's just incredible.
00:24:07.800 So it was about just slightly less than a two-hour hearing today.
00:24:11.760 There was a 10 or 15-minute break where the master went through things.
00:24:15.540 The final result was her coming up with those dollar figures. 0.68
00:24:22.260 But like I say, we didn't even get into any of the substance.
00:24:25.960 We didn't get into Tommy's main objection,
00:24:29.940 which is he doesn't want to turn over the identity of his witnesses
00:24:33.580 to the plaintiffs because he's worried they'll be abused, threatened, etc.
00:24:37.340 So Tommy told me, and I think this video should be up at TommyTrial.com,
00:24:46.900 if not already, it should be up shortly.
00:24:48.880 I talked to Tommy before the case,
00:24:50.820 and he said he's got students ready to testify,
00:24:58.360 a teacher ready to testify.
00:24:59.900 He says he's got internal records from the school
00:25:03.140 that all show that this kid was indeed a bully.
00:25:06.760 He's not a saint.
00:25:08.100 That's Tommy's contention.
00:25:09.820 He's pleading truth as his defense.
00:25:15.640 So we didn't get into any of that today.
00:25:19.220 For maybe 10 minutes, they talked about the fact that,
00:25:21.900 therefore, Tommy wants his witnesses to be kept confidential
00:25:24.980 from the plaintiffs, not from the judge.
00:25:28.880 The judge will obviously be able to know who they are, etc.
00:25:31.140 But he wants them kept confidential from the public
00:25:34.220 and also from the plaintiffs' lawyers.
00:25:36.980 And the reason for that we didn't get into today,
00:25:39.300 but I know why, having talked to Tommy and seen his videos and whatnot,
00:25:44.900 the lawyers involved sent an insane Antifa street thug
00:25:49.540 to serve papers on Tommy at his family home,
00:25:52.480 and they live-streamed it, thus revealing his home location.
00:25:56.580 So this wasn't that Jamal Syrian kid anymore. 1.00
00:25:59.360 It was the law firm that's against Tommy.
00:26:03.240 The law firm, instead of sending what's called a process server
00:26:06.220 or a private detective or even a courier or a messenger
00:26:09.460 to serve the lawsuit on Tommy, 0.84
00:26:11.120 the law firm hired a madman.
00:26:15.640 You can see it on my other video at TommyTrial.com.
00:26:18.260 Some wild guy who threatened Tommy,
00:26:21.560 threatened Tommy's wife and kids,
00:26:23.140 and live-streamed the visit to Tommy's confidential home location.
00:26:27.560 So Tommy, you can see why Tommy doesn't want
00:26:30.460 to give the identity of these child witnesses
00:26:34.040 to the law firm itself because of their abuse of conduct so far.
00:26:38.660 And I understand that the law society
00:26:40.460 or the benchers or whatever they call it over here
00:26:43.200 in the UK is looking into this law firm.
00:26:49.580 I stuck around longer than I should
00:26:52.220 because I was told the whole thing
00:26:54.140 would only go for 90 minutes,
00:26:56.140 and I should have been able to make my flight,
00:26:59.080 but it went 45 minutes actually later.
00:27:01.640 Then I think the whole thing went for 2 hours
00:27:04.300 and 15 minutes instead of 90 minutes,
00:27:06.460 and hopefully we can make up time on the road.
00:27:08.580 So I've already checked in and whatnot.
00:27:11.520 So, oh, and I see, just as we're here,
00:27:14.140 Tommy just sent me a voice message,
00:27:15.900 which I obviously can't listen to
00:27:17.600 on the same phone as I'm doing this live stream.
00:27:22.460 I talked to Tommy a bit about it.
00:27:23.780 I won't get into the confidential nature of our discussions,
00:27:27.580 but he obviously agrees that this is the law fair,
00:27:30.720 the process is the punishment,
00:27:31.980 and they're just throwing anything at him,
00:27:33.900 including the kitchen sink, seeing what'll stick.
00:27:35.860 As I say, there was only one other reporter in the room,
00:27:40.720 a reporter for an extremist news agency
00:27:43.520 called Press Association.
00:27:45.100 They probably wouldn't call themselves extremists.
00:27:48.540 They'd probably call themselves mainstream,
00:27:50.360 and maybe they are on some issues,
00:27:51.800 but I've seen their misconduct on Tommy reported,
00:27:54.620 so frankly, I don't believe a word they say.
00:27:57.620 I mean, it was a pretty bland and boring hearing.
00:28:00.140 It wasn't even a hearing today.
00:28:01.020 It was a meeting, really,
00:28:02.680 so I'm not even sure how it could be mischaracterized,
00:28:04.860 mischaracterized, but if they can find a way,
00:28:07.240 I'm sure they will.
00:28:08.280 Anyways, that's my report.
00:28:09.720 I think I'll sign off,
00:28:10.820 because I'm going to check to see
00:28:11.700 what that message from Tommy was.
00:28:13.940 It might just be him saying goodbye,
00:28:16.400 because I did have to leave hastily.
00:28:19.480 If there's something really newsworthy,
00:28:21.820 I'll strike up another live stream and tell you,
00:28:24.600 but otherwise, let me conclude my report
00:28:26.820 by saying I'm very disappointed,
00:28:28.540 not in the substance of this case,
00:28:31.280 which was not move forward one inch today.
00:28:33.100 I'm very disappointed in the truth
00:28:36.380 about the British legal system,
00:28:37.940 where the lawyers come first,
00:28:41.220 the lawyers get paid first,
00:28:42.900 the most important thing to the lawyers
00:28:44.600 is getting paid, and lawyers on both sides.
00:28:47.400 And the fact that we spent, really,
00:28:49.800 two hours and 15 minutes today
00:28:51.420 making sure the lawyers got well fed,
00:28:53.920 and I'm serious, there were five lawyers in the room,
00:28:56.640 one, two, three, four, five,
00:28:57.880 and I think there was a proposal
00:29:00.140 to have seven at the case.
00:29:01.940 Like, it's, that makes no sense,
00:29:04.480 other than in the UK,
00:29:05.740 where the laws obviously run
00:29:07.260 for the benefit of the lawyers,
00:29:08.680 not the people, not for Jamal,
00:29:10.560 the plaintiff, even if he wins,
00:29:12.040 let's say if he wins.
00:29:13.980 It really isn't his case, is it?
00:29:15.480 It's his lawyer's case.
00:29:16.340 They're just going to get so rich off it.
00:29:18.000 I'm very frustrated by that,
00:29:19.720 and I'm a little bit disillusioned
00:29:22.420 about justice here,
00:29:23.260 and I conclude with what I said
00:29:25.340 in one of my last tweets today,
00:29:26.800 which is,
00:29:27.880 this is the price you pay in a jurisdiction
00:29:30.120 with no First Amendment,
00:29:33.020 because what Tommy said on his video
00:29:35.660 would absolutely not be
00:29:38.840 something subject to litigation in America,
00:29:42.060 and if someone filed a nuisance suit,
00:29:43.300 it would have been thrown out right away.
00:29:45.200 But in the UK,
00:29:47.020 and to an extent in Canada,
00:29:49.140 there's a free speech tax,
00:29:50.680 and it's only paid by conservatives, by the way.
00:29:52.580 I'm unaware of conservatives suing liberals
00:29:55.560 in nuisance suits to shut them up
00:29:58.560 for political purposes,
00:30:00.220 as I believe is being done to Tommy.
00:30:02.460 It's only the other way.
00:30:04.800 Anyway, so that's my report.
00:30:07.220 You can see all my live tweets
00:30:08.680 at Twitter.com slash Ezra Levant.
00:30:11.640 I did interview Tommy
00:30:12.980 for about five minutes before court.
00:30:14.560 You can find that at TommyTrial.com.
00:30:16.300 I am racing to the airport now,
00:30:17.900 and I sure hope I get there on time.
00:30:19.960 No guarantee, though.
00:30:21.120 So if you want to help cover the cost of my flight,
00:30:24.200 I'd be very grateful if you would.
00:30:25.540 I paid about $1,400 for the flight,
00:30:27.400 plus cab fare each way,
00:30:29.540 and in Toronto also.
00:30:31.400 Altogether, it'll be just under $2,000 a Canadian.
00:30:34.000 It's about 1,200 British pounds.
00:30:36.780 Now that I see what lawyers charge here,
00:30:38.900 I'm obviously in the wrong business.
00:30:41.580 All right, folks.
00:30:42.160 That's it for today from the streets of London.
00:30:44.640 Until next time,
00:30:45.480 on behalf of all of us at Rebel World Headquarters,
00:30:47.700 to you at home and around the world,
00:30:49.840 goodbye, and keep fighting for freedom.
00:30:52.240 What do you think of that crazy story
00:31:03.520 out at Northwestern University?
00:31:05.440 Do you really think it's any different
00:31:07.000 at Canadian universities
00:31:08.500 that reporters are apologizing
00:31:13.440 for causing harm and hurt to people's feelings,
00:31:17.220 and they're deleting things?
00:31:18.860 Of course not.
00:31:20.580 That is actually further gone in Canada.
00:31:23.700 We just deleted Don Cherry
00:31:26.200 because he said,
00:31:27.000 you people,
00:31:27.540 which is his catchphrase.
00:31:29.220 Yeah, it's worse up here
00:31:31.700 because it's not just the student papers.
00:31:33.880 It's the state broadcaster.
00:31:35.420 All right, that's our show for today.
00:31:36.760 Until next time,
00:31:37.460 on behalf of us here at Rebel World Headquarters,
00:31:39.700 good night.
00:31:40.720 Keep fighting for freedom.
00:31:48.860 peedrent.com
00:31:50.300 We'll see you next time.
00:31:52.960 We'll see you next time.
00:31:57.700 We'll be right back after
00:31:58.420 aman attitude.
00:31:59.000 California