Rebel News Podcast - REBEL ROUNDUP ｜ Ezra Levant reacts to his arrest by Toronto police

00:00:00.000 Well, hi everybody, Ezra Levant here. I'm out of jail. I'm back in our world headquarters

00:00:19.360 in Toronto. I've been to jail before. In fact, I was in jail just a couple of weeks

00:00:24.320 ago visiting Tommy Robinson in HMP Woodhill in the United Kingdom. But as I just mentioned,

00:00:29.760 it was as a visitor. I have visited people in jail before. It's very different being

00:00:35.680 put in jail. And what is most surprising is being put in jail for the offense of committing

00:00:40.940 journalism. And that's what happened to me yesterday in my hometown of Toronto. I was

00:00:46.400 at home puttering. And I see out of the corner of my eye, this absurd display on the streets

00:00:55.700 of my city, that some pro-Hamas activists had reenacted the demise of Yahya Sinwar, the head

00:01:05.200 of Hamas. They sort of had, they recreated the scene. And this is in a Jewish residential 0.67

00:01:11.040 neighborhood. It's not in front of an embassy. It's not in front of a political place. All

00:01:16.700 these Hamas extremists come into the heart of a Jewish residential neighborhood and set 0.88

00:01:20.700 up this sort of, almost like a wax museum of anti-Semitic terrorists. And they have their

00:01:27.820 flags and their chanting. And yeah, there it is right there. Freeze there on that image.

00:01:34.940 So that's supposed to be Yahya Sinwar in a chair when he ended his life. And that's supposed 0.85

00:01:41.040 to be blood. And you can see they're all wearing masks in the Hamas way. So I see that on social 0.69

00:01:47.060 media and I say, that's insane. And that is, that's not being pro-Palestinian now. That's

00:01:55.300 being pro-Hamas. And I happen to know that if you support the terrorist group Hamas in certain

00:02:00.860 measurable ways, that's actually against the law in Canada. And I know there's a ton of police

00:02:05.860 there. So I went down just to take a picture of that. I was going to make a point about it

00:02:12.160 later, probably tweet about it. And police physically shoved me away from that. They

00:02:21.160 said, you can't, you can't take pictures of that. You're too close to the pro-Hamas people 0.75

00:02:26.860 and that incites them to be excitable or whatever. And I objected to that, but I wasn't about to

00:02:33.600 fight him. I mean, a big cop pulling you away. Never fight with a cop, just some word to the wise.

00:02:39.040 So they frog-marched me away from this display. And they say, there's a journal, there's a free

00:02:46.080 speech zone over there. If you want to do journalism, go over there. Well, the journalism's

00:02:51.920 over there, brother, but thanks for the tip. No, you go over there. Well, you're not my editor.

00:02:57.460 I'm a citizen. I'm a taxpayer. And the only reason the Hamas people don't want me there 1.00

00:03:01.760 is because I'm Jewish. And I know this because they say so. This is not my conspiracy theory.

00:03:06.960 They explicitly say so. They'll say so right now if you ask. And then the top cop comes over and he

00:03:13.180 says, I am the law. No, you're not. You're a servant of the law. We live in a society that has the

00:03:18.380 rule of law, not the rule of thin-skinned little Napoleons in a uniform. And I said that. I said, 0.96

00:03:25.280 no, I'm a Jew, but I still have the right to be on a sidewalk. I'm a citizen. I'm actually a neighbor

00:03:31.520 here, unlike these foreign provocateurs that we've allowed on our streets for some reason.

00:03:36.160 And he just sort of said, you're under arrest. And without further ado, let me show you.

00:03:41.660 I want to play for you. My friend Efron Monsanto arrived shortly after I did. And he sort of saw

00:03:48.820 the kerfuffle. And he filmed most of it. It's a seven-minute clip, but I think it's worth watching.

00:03:55.680 Don't you think, Olivia? Let's watch this seven-minute clip. This will catch you up on things.

00:04:00.720 Now, the only downside of this is, Efron, I don't think this has the audio from my microphone.

00:04:07.200 So you won't be able to hear everything I say. I don't know if we have a phone. That would be

00:04:12.140 something to link up the audio from my iPhone with this video. We can do that another time,

00:04:17.660 maybe. But take a look of what a very momentous seven minutes and 48 seconds in my life was like.

00:04:24.640 Take a look.

00:04:24.980 I don't know how I want to be anymore.

00:04:28.240 I'm not listening to the police.

00:04:43.940 Has your wife got her PR?

00:04:45.500 Has your wife got her PR?

00:04:47.360 I think you have.

00:04:48.120 I haven't seen my wife got the PR.

00:04:52.660 This is my...

00:04:53.300 If he's falling for his wife's PR, does he get it?

00:04:56.920 She's not deported.

00:04:57.840 Ah, she's deported? 0.99

00:04:58.720 She's not deported.

00:04:59.620 No, no. Is your wife deported?

00:05:00.780 I don't want to arrest you.

00:05:05.280 I don't want to arrest you.

00:05:08.060 No, I want us to arrest you.

00:05:09.240 That's one of the most astonishing things that we're committing on our city streets.

00:05:14.460 There are Holocaust survivors here.

00:05:16.400 Stop terrorizing oppression.

00:05:23.200 Stop terrorizing oppression.

00:05:26.440 No, no, no, no.

00:05:41.440 I'm not happy that you're here.

00:05:50.820 If I bring a gun, if I bring a gun,

00:05:53.560 watch out, watch your gun, watch your gun.

00:05:56.020 What are you doing?

00:05:57.160 Watch where you're going.

00:05:58.160 Hey! 0.99

00:05:59.160 Get them off! 1.00

00:06:01.160 Get them off! 1.00

00:06:02.160 Get them off! 1.00

00:06:03.160 Get them off! 1.00

00:06:04.160 No, you were working for these trucks.

00:06:06.160 No, you were working for these trucks.

00:06:09.160 No, you were working for these trucks.

00:06:11.160 You were working for these trucks.

00:06:12.160 You were working for them.

00:06:13.160 You were working for them.

00:06:14.160 There's a media.

00:06:15.160 There's a media area.

00:06:16.160 There's a media area.

00:06:17.160 There's a media area.

00:06:18.160 There's a media area.

00:06:19.160 There's a media area.

00:06:20.160 There's a media area.

00:06:21.160 There's a media area.

00:06:22.160 There's a media area.

00:06:23.160 I think you're a coward also.

00:06:24.160 You can have your opinion.

00:06:25.160 You'll do what they say.

00:06:26.160 You can stand over here.

00:06:27.160 Can you pause for a second?

00:06:28.160 No.

00:06:29.160 So, that's great footage by Efron.

00:06:32.160 We can't hear a lot of it.

00:06:34.160 Let me tell you, I was sort of arguing with him.

00:06:36.160 And, Olivia, can you send a note to Efron?

00:06:38.160 What I'd like to do is I'd like to take the audio from my cell phone, which was recording

00:06:42.160 from my earbuds, and combined it with that video.

00:06:45.160 Because I think what I was saying to the cop there may be of interest to viewers.

00:06:51.160 I was basically saying, on what basis are you limiting my ability to take photos and videos

00:06:58.160 of a crime scene?

00:07:00.160 I mean, I'm not a fan of hate crimes.

00:07:03.160 I'm a fan of enforcing crime crimes.

00:07:06.160 What I mean by that is uttering a threat, mischief, vandalism, trespass, assault, all of which

00:07:11.160 has happened in Toronto during the massive anti-Semitic crime wave for the last 13 months.

00:07:16.160 But there is on the books a number of hate crimes.

00:07:20.160 And I'm not really a fan of those because I believe in freedom of speech.

00:07:23.160 But the cops believe in those laws.

00:07:26.160 And yet they allowed this bizarre, perverse, macabre celebration of a terrorist leader very

00:07:32.160 specifically that is probably a hate crime.

00:07:37.160 It may even be supporting terrorism.

00:07:39.160 There's sort of four ways to support terrorism that are illegal.

00:07:42.160 I'm not going to get that now.

00:07:44.160 So I was talking to the cop about that.

00:07:47.160 And he basically said, you're causing a disturbance.

00:07:52.160 I said, no, I'm not causing it at all.

00:07:55.160 I'm just standing on the sidewalk.

00:07:57.160 It's these maniacs, these feral foreign provocateurs that are causing the disturbance. 0.99

00:08:04.160 I'm just the path of least resistance.

00:08:07.160 And I said to him, and I don't know if you could hear that.

00:08:09.160 I said, you're basically saying that whoever has the most bullies, the police will abide

00:08:16.160 them because you're not enforcing the law.

00:08:20.160 You're just enforcing the mob.

00:08:22.160 Anyhow, keep playing.

00:08:23.160 I just wanted to explain what I was saying to that fella.

00:08:27.160 And Olivia, if it's possible to sync up the audio from my phone with the video from that

00:08:32.160 camera, I think that would be a very useful video to watch.

00:08:35.160 Anyhow, let's keep playing, because now I think you can hear some of what I was saying.

00:08:39.160 I'm trying to keep the peace.

00:08:41.160 No, you're not.

00:08:42.160 If you're trying to keep the peace, you're going to crack down on the bus.

00:08:45.160 If you want to be in their bidding, just stand over here, okay?

00:08:48.160 I don't have to.

00:08:49.160 Canada is likely to speak so, sir.

00:08:52.160 Sir, I understand that, okay?

00:08:54.160 But you're violating my charter rights.

00:08:55.160 Your presence in that group is inciting the potential for violence.

00:08:58.160 I haven't incited anything.

00:08:59.160 They have.

00:09:00.160 Your presence alone.

00:09:01.160 You have obeyed them.

00:09:02.160 So, again, here's where I want you to stand, okay?

00:09:06.160 I know you want me to stand here, but you're not the law.

00:09:08.160 Well, I am the law.

00:09:09.160 No, you're not the law, sir.

00:09:10.160 You're a servant of the law.

00:09:12.160 You are not the law.

00:09:13.160 So now, if you want to interview anybody, they know they can come and talk to you.

00:09:16.160 I'm not interested in interviewing them.

00:09:18.160 I want to show the astonishing hate crime that you are protected.

00:09:23.160 What a coward you are, sir.

00:09:25.160 Run away, you little coward.

00:09:27.160 What a coward.

00:09:28.160 Holy cow. 0.89

00:09:29.160 I already have.

00:09:31.160 I've touched on one.

00:09:32.160 You'll be graced.

00:09:33.160 You're doing stuff.

00:09:34.160 So, like I said to you before, we were here last week.

00:09:38.160 Right.

00:09:39.160 You had a designated area to stay in, and you agreed to stay in.

00:09:42.160 I did not.

00:09:43.160 What are you talking about?

00:09:44.160 Well, absolutely.

00:09:45.160 Acting Inspector Ford told me they had a media area for you, and you guys stayed in it.

00:09:48.160 We did not.

00:09:49.160 We did not.

00:09:50.160 So that cop in the middle there on the left, his name is McDuff.

00:09:55.160 And he wasn't there last week, and he said, you had a media area and you stayed in it.

00:10:00.160 We absolutely did not.

00:10:02.160 We went and we did our journalism for one reason only, because we had strength in numbers.

00:10:06.160 We had a dozen rebels from across the country who came in to stand with David Menzies.

00:10:10.160 So he is misinformed when he thinks we stayed in his media area.

00:10:15.160 The media area that I care about is called Canada.

00:10:20.160 And I'm allowed to be on any public sidewalk I like, especially in my own neighborhood, especially

00:10:25.160 when it's a group of anti-Semitic thugs.

00:10:28.160 And by the way, you'll notice that they are not restrained from coming right up next to me.

00:10:34.160 So you have all these cops on me saying I'm inciting a disturbance.

00:10:39.160 But you'll notice all the, I mean, including there was a guy wearing a mask and a camera.

00:10:44.160 I presume it was someone recording for the Hamas side.

00:10:48.160 You know, within a few inches of me, and I didn't really care.

00:10:52.160 But my point is, the cops were not enforcing this keep the peace even-handedly.

00:10:59.160 They were just removing me.

00:11:01.160 And I was there as a journalist.

00:11:03.160 Rebel News is not religious.

00:11:05.160 It's not Christian or Jewish or anything. 0.63

00:11:06.160 It's just Rebel News.

00:11:07.160 I happen to be a Jew.

00:11:08.160 Most of our staff happen to be Christians.

00:11:11.160 But the reason the Hamas extremists were reacting to me is precisely because I am a Jew.

00:11:16.160 And I know that because they say so.

00:11:18.160 Because last week when I was there, they unfurled a dozen anti-Semitic epithets.

00:11:24.160 And again, I'm not, in my own world, that's not necessarily a crime.

00:11:28.160 In the world of the police, I think it might be.

00:11:31.160 But, anyway, let's play that clip again.

00:11:34.160 I just wanted to give that context.

00:11:35.160 Let's watch.

00:11:36.160 We're halfway through the clip.

00:11:37.160 Let's watch some more.

00:11:38.160 Well, because it's not up to him to say you're a police beast now.

00:11:41.160 Well, yeah, because you're inciting this crowd and then it reaches the beast.

00:11:45.160 Your presence is inciting them and that's exactly what you're trying to do.

00:11:49.160 Because I'm a Jew.

00:11:50.160 No, because you're trying to incite them.

00:11:51.160 I haven't tried to incite them.

00:11:52.160 I want you to take a picture of the hate crime that you're abiding.

00:11:55.160 You could have done it on the other side.

00:11:56.160 You didn't need to walk over here.

00:11:57.160 No, I wanted to go out.

00:11:58.160 Okay, now I'm going to tell you to move over there. 1.00

00:12:00.160 And ultimately, I allowed you to take that video.

00:12:03.160 I allowed you to take that video.

00:12:04.160 Because I'm not crossing the road.

00:12:05.160 So you're refusing to leave?

00:12:06.160 I'm refusing to leave.

00:12:07.160 Why?

00:12:08.160 Because I'm a Jew, I'm a citizen, and I'm your boss.

00:12:12.160 And I don't leave if you say Jews aren't allowed on the street.

00:12:14.160 Well, you know what?

00:12:15.160 In the interest of keeping peace here and public safety, you're under arrest.

00:12:18.160 Okay, pause right there.

00:12:19.160 Stop right there.

00:12:21.160 So, let me say a few obvious things here.

00:12:24.160 If you want to put me back on screen for a second, Olivia.

00:12:27.160 At this point, I am far away from the display I went to photograph.

00:12:34.160 At this point, the police who sort of pulled me away had let me go.

00:12:38.160 Right?

00:12:39.160 Obviously.

00:12:40.160 So I was no longer near the display they wanted me away from.

00:12:44.160 The cop who pushed me away had concluded his little project of pushing me away.

00:12:49.160 And you can actually see there were no Hamas supporters around.

00:12:53.160 There was no disturbance to be caused.

00:12:56.160 The reason he arrested me is obvious.

00:12:59.160 Because I said, I'm a citizen.

00:13:01.160 I'm a Jew.

00:13:02.160 I have the right to be here on the streets.

00:13:03.160 I forget my exact word.

00:13:04.160 I said, and I'm your boss.

00:13:06.160 Which, of course, is true. 0.88

00:13:07.160 We have civilian oversight of police.

00:13:09.160 We don't live in a police state.

00:13:11.160 And that's when he said, I'm arresting you for breaching the peace.

00:13:16.160 But I wasn't breaching the peace.

00:13:18.160 I had been let go by the other officer.

00:13:20.160 We were far away from the zoning question.

00:13:23.160 There actually weren't any Palestinian activists, Hamas activists, right nearby.

00:13:27.160 It was simply his own ego.

00:13:29.160 He's a bit of a thug, this McDuff.

00:13:31.160 He's a bit of a bully.

00:13:32.160 Do you see my point?

00:13:34.160 If they would have arrested me right near the display, I would not have been happy about it.

00:13:38.160 But at least their argument, you are near this display and that's upsetting people.

00:13:43.160 You know, on the face of it, it would have some credence, even though that's no excuse to violate my charter rights.

00:13:49.160 The cop on the right there had frog-marched me out and then let me go.

00:13:53.160 I was standing far away from things.

00:13:57.160 And I just, it was that cop's temper that said, you know what, I'll show this guy.

00:14:02.160 I'll arrest him.

00:14:03.160 Keep playing the tape.

00:14:08.160 Take this.

00:14:09.160 I'm being arrested because I'm standing on the sidewalk in my city.

00:14:22.160 I'm a Jew who lives in this neighborhood.

00:14:25.160 And I'm being arrested because the police say that's the path of least resistance.

00:14:30.160 Loser vai and the force.

00:14:33.160 We're either going back or going high or low.

00:14:38.160 Offностью is meat.

00:14:40.160 It'sρίו safeguard to the election player of the country.

00:14:45.160 Thank you guys.

00:14:47.160 Hey guys, what a nice day!

00:15:17.160 I was arrested for standing on the street because I'm a Jew, and they said I was causing a disturbance.

00:15:29.420 What kind of disturbance is that you're doing?

00:15:35.920 We got people calling to the staff.

00:15:38.460 You guys have the police for a rest of your friends.

00:15:40.980 I've been arrested by the police because I refused to get off the public sidewalk.

00:15:59.120 They said that I cannot be on the sidewalk because that inherently is a disturbance.

00:16:03.920 They said that by standing there, and I wasn't even interviewing anyone, they said that that was such a disturbance that I would be arrested.

00:16:10.980 And I think that's a little bit cowardly because arresting me, they know I'm not going to have a riot like there was last night in Montreal.

00:16:18.460 They know I'm going to go easily because I'm a law-riding Canadian.

00:16:21.820 They're afraid of the Hamas activists, and they're woke.

00:16:25.820 And Olivia Chow approves, and Doug Ford approves, and Justin Trudeau approves.

00:16:30.580 And so I am arrested for the first time in my life in my home city, the city where I pay taxes,

00:16:36.460 because these people, and by these people, I mean these police, have been instructed not to touch the hate crime.

00:16:43.980 I want you to film the hate crime across the street.

00:16:47.100 They actually have reenacted Yaya Singlaur in the final moment.

00:16:51.220 That would be like having a Hitler recreation. 0.90

00:16:54.540 It would be like having someone dressed up as Hitler. 0.53

00:16:57.340 In a neighborhood where Holocaust survivors live, they say that that is not a hate crime,

00:17:04.000 and that for me to report on it is a crime.

00:17:06.760 I'm conscionable.

00:17:08.260 They are protecting Hamas supporters who are called for the murder of Jews.

00:17:13.040 They are, and because it was easier to arrest me than to arrest the Hamas thugs, 0.98

00:17:18.180 that's what they've done.

00:17:19.820 In my own city, for the crime of journalism.

00:17:22.720 Do you have anything to say, officer?

00:17:28.160 Officer, do you have anything to say?

00:17:30.800 You're on 960 AM.

00:17:32.220 Do you have anything to say?

00:17:34.560 Do you have to go?

00:17:36.060 Let him go! 1.00

00:17:37.060 That's right.

00:17:37.720 You keep fighting!

00:17:38.560 Let him go! 1.00

00:17:41.080 Let him go! 1.00

00:17:44.020 Let him go! 1.00

00:17:45.580 Let him go! 1.00

00:17:46.640 Yeah, and then I was put into a police car.

00:18:01.740 There's other clips out there.

00:18:02.940 My friend, Mayor Weinstein, had an excellent clip that shows me all the way to getting into the car.

00:18:07.960 And I was driven away to the police station, where I was removed from the police car,

00:18:12.180 brought into a processing room, searched again, my belongings put in a Ziploc bag.

00:18:18.140 My shoelace is taken out of my boots and my hoodie, and I was put in a 5 foot by 7 foot jail cell.

00:18:25.640 To my relief, it was clean.

00:18:27.320 David Menzies tells me some of the jail cells he's being put on are absolutely filthy.

00:18:32.020 I'm glad to say that wasn't the case here.

00:18:33.720 But it was just a plastic slab, which I guess would be a place to sit on or lie down on,

00:18:40.740 and a toilet that on the top of it also had like a water fountain.

00:18:45.140 And I was just in there by myself.

00:18:46.720 There was a light, and then there was a bar door.

00:18:50.620 It was quite small.

00:18:53.200 It was sort of like being in slightly bigger than a shower.

00:18:57.200 In fact, it had the same acoustics.

00:18:59.300 And I didn't have – they took my phone and my watch.

00:19:01.640 I didn't know what time it was.

00:19:02.760 I didn't – you know, basically you're alone with your thoughts.

00:19:05.560 And for someone like me who's really synchronized to their cell phone,

00:19:09.120 it was a little bit – you know, it wobbles you a bit.

00:19:14.160 What's going on?

00:19:15.020 What's happening outside?

00:19:16.860 What are people doing?

00:19:17.960 They saw me being arrested.

00:19:19.980 I hope someone out there is calling my lawyer.

00:19:22.380 They did.

00:19:23.060 I hope we're showing the film of my arrest.

00:19:25.540 We were.

00:19:27.820 I made three phone calls.

00:19:29.140 My first call was to our lawyer who was right on the file,

00:19:32.660 and she agreed with me this was absolute BS.

00:19:37.020 Talked to our Rebel News team just to confirm everything was afoot, and it was.

00:19:40.520 And I also wanted to let them that I was fine in prison – in jail.

00:19:44.380 And I was fairly certain that I would be released because, as you could see,

00:19:46.880 I did absolutely nothing wrong.

00:19:48.660 And, you know, just causing a disturbance or whatever,

00:19:53.060 it's not even in the criminal code.

00:19:54.500 And I don't know.

00:20:01.800 I mean, when you don't have anyone else to talk to you,

00:20:04.580 when you don't have a cell phone or a watch or email, time –

00:20:08.160 you're unaware of how much time passes.

00:20:09.900 And, of course, there's no interaction with anyone.

00:20:13.200 I'm just saying that it was uncomfortable to be in jail for a couple hours.

00:20:19.000 I can only imagine what it's like for someone like our friend Tommy Robinson,

00:20:23.980 who's in prison in the United Kingdom for an 18-month sentence.

00:20:27.960 He'll probably serve nine months in solitary.

00:20:30.260 I can't imagine being by yourself for nine months,

00:20:34.880 being locked up in a tiny cell like that for nine months.

00:20:37.720 I just can't imagine it.

00:20:39.240 I had three phone calls from jail, and I really enjoyed the calls

00:20:43.780 because it was my only interaction with humans.

00:20:45.820 I mean, the guards in the jail themselves were nice enough.

00:20:50.240 They had nothing to do with my arrest.

00:20:54.180 They were just the people I was dumped on.

00:20:56.640 But, no, it was very interesting.

00:20:58.800 I knew I would be released with no consequences

00:21:02.740 because what are they going to charge me with what?

00:21:05.540 But I think that I should not let it be.

00:21:08.460 I think I should sue, and here's why.

00:21:11.980 This is the first time I've been arrested,

00:21:13.500 but it's the sixth time that our reporters have been arrested in 2024.

00:21:20.720 In fact, just two weeks and one day ago, at that exact corner,

00:21:24.720 David Menzies was arrested by these same cops.

00:21:27.800 And they just do it again and again and again.

00:21:30.920 You can see there's no basis for my arrest.

00:21:34.180 Giving a veto to the Hamas crowd of who gets to be on the street or not, 0.86

00:21:39.380 that's not the Canadian way.

00:21:40.480 And that won't hold up in court.

00:21:43.620 But you do that to me, and here's what you do.

00:21:45.480 Number one, you humiliate me, handcuff me, frog march me in public.

00:21:49.620 And you see the braying and the cheering by those Hamas extremists. 0.77

00:21:53.380 They loved it.

00:21:54.740 I mean, the police were doing what they could only hope to do.

00:21:57.620 And maybe one day they will do that.

00:21:59.700 I mean, there's been a lot of violence.

00:22:01.160 Look at the riots in Montreal on Friday night.

00:22:03.380 So they're humiliating me and giving exuberant enthusiasm to the Hamas side. 1.00

00:22:10.380 Number two, they're taking me away.

00:22:11.600 They're stopping me from doing my journalism.

00:22:13.540 Stopping me from reporting on the actual hate crime that was going on there.

00:22:18.020 Number three, they're imposing costs on me.

00:22:21.380 Now, in the end, my consultation with the lawyer was brief because they let me go without charges.

00:22:26.360 But in the half a dozen arrests we've had this year, we've had to go to court, I don't know, five, ten times.

00:22:33.160 We've spent tens of thousands of dollars on legals just for David Menzies alone.

00:22:39.240 But there's one more thing this arrest does, and it moves the Overton window.

00:22:44.760 You know what that word means, the Overton window.

00:22:47.140 It's basically the window of possibilities.

00:22:50.380 Everything within the Overton window is thinkable.

00:22:53.680 Everything outside the Overton window is unthinkable.

00:22:57.660 So what I mean by that is now we have to change our expectations of the country we're in.

00:23:03.640 The police are no longer neutral.

00:23:06.580 They have favorites, whether it's based on ethnicity or politics.

00:23:11.160 I don't know, but they're no longer neutral, are they?

00:23:13.840 You saw the two-tier policing.

00:23:15.480 That's another way of saying it.

00:23:16.700 I was subject to one standard, but the pro-Hamas types were subject to another, lighter standard.

00:23:22.020 Even though many of them aren't even Canadian nationals.

00:23:26.720 There's a new sheriff in town, and it ain't the cops.

00:23:29.420 It's the Hamas extremists for whom the cops act as concierge. 0.90

00:23:35.060 This is very demoralizing, and that's the point.

00:23:37.720 When these Hamas thugs do things like snarl traffic, like block important roads, block Union Station Subway in Toronto, block major roads and highways, 0.99

00:23:50.640 they're not doing that to persuade people.

00:23:53.580 They know that's extremely irritating.

00:23:55.600 They're doing that to show you who's dominant and who's submissive, to teach you the new rules, which is that they call the shots and you obey.

00:24:07.300 The police follow their lead now, not the law.

00:24:10.060 So the arrest of me was about the Overton window as much as anything.

00:24:15.320 And it was about tamping down the one independent news company in Toronto and in some ways around the country that's willing to call out these things.

00:24:26.920 So it was demoralizing from that sense.

00:24:28.960 But I'm not going to be demoralized because I think the rebel way is when you're knocked down to get up, brush the dust off yourself, and get back to it.

00:24:37.480 And not just to get back to the journalism, but in this case to sue the Toronto Police Service and Officer McDuff.

00:24:43.440 Now, I heard something today that Efron, our head of video, mentioned that I didn't have a chance to look at.

00:24:50.060 Olivia, maybe you can show it to me at the same time we show our viewers.

00:24:53.380 And that is I was on an interview with Jerry Agar, who's a talk show host here in Toronto on News Talk 1010.

00:25:01.320 And he was nice enough to have me on the show.

00:25:04.120 And basically I said the things I've just said here.

00:25:07.600 But apparently Jerry called the Toronto Police for comment on this, which is a good idea.

00:25:15.820 Get the other side of the story.

00:25:17.160 It's a good move, journalistically.

00:25:18.500 And I think Jerry invited them to say a word on his program, too.

00:25:24.360 It's a large channel.

00:25:25.640 News Talk 1010 is one of the largest AM radio stations in Toronto.

00:25:30.340 So normally, if you're in the spokesman business, that's great.

00:25:33.740 But I understand that the police said we will never go on a program along with Rebel News.

00:25:40.080 Now, I just heard that from Efron.

00:25:41.240 I haven't heard that directly from Jerry.

00:25:42.880 Do you have that clip, Olivia?

00:25:43.940 Can we hear that?

00:25:45.220 Let's take a listen.

00:25:45.860 Kenny Sayre of the Toronto Police wrote, Hi, Christina.

00:25:49.020 Thanks for reaching out.

00:25:50.040 Nobody is coming on Jerry's show to talk about Rebel News.

00:25:55.500 Okay, that's a blow off.

00:25:57.220 I've been doing this a long time.

00:25:58.860 Implicit in that is disrespect for Ezra and, by extension, the public that deserves answers

00:26:03.300 as to why the terrorist supporters were not arrested, ignored by the police, but the Jew was.

00:26:09.620 Christina wrote back, We would appreciate a statement as to why Ezra would be arrested and not the protesters.

00:26:15.560 Who Jerry will refer to as terrorist supporters.

00:26:19.320 No response from the police.

00:26:21.420 This is the iHeartRadio Talk Network.

00:26:24.140 All right, it's slightly different than I thought it would be.

00:26:26.440 They're not saying we would never appear on a program with Ezra.

00:26:28.940 That's sort of how I interpreted it.

00:26:30.380 But there's a little bit of that there.

00:26:31.660 We will not be talking about Rebel News.

00:26:34.020 Why?

00:26:34.360 Because we dare to challenge your top cop when he says, I am the law.

00:26:43.000 No, brother, you're not the law.

00:26:45.480 You're an officer of the law.

00:26:47.340 You're a servant of the law.

00:26:49.340 But you are not the law.

00:26:52.400 Two of the cops.

00:26:53.000 I think I said that same thing to two cops.

00:26:55.900 And that's another.

00:26:56.440 Can you send a note to the social media team, Olivia?

00:26:59.100 I'd like to have a very short social media clip.

00:27:01.520 I think I said it to both cops.

00:27:04.240 I said, you're not the law.

00:27:05.420 They said, I am the law.

00:27:06.340 And I said, no, you're a servant of the law.

00:27:07.480 I think I said that to both of them.

00:27:09.280 Sort of a blur to me.

00:27:10.720 Can we do it?

00:27:11.380 If it is two of them, can you have the team do a short mashup?

00:27:15.220 I'd love to show that.

00:27:17.220 And I think you've got a clip there, too.

00:27:18.680 Yeah, go ahead and play that.

00:27:19.540 I think I had the same conversation with two of them.

00:27:21.860 Let's take a look.

00:27:23.520 I'm being arrested because I'm standing on the sidewalk in my city.

00:27:29.520 I'm a Jew who lives in this neighborhood.

00:27:33.120 Here's here.

00:27:34.180 I want you to stand.

00:27:35.920 I know you want me to stand here, but you're not the law.

00:27:38.980 I am the law.

00:27:39.960 No, you're not the law.

00:27:41.380 You're a servant of the law.

00:27:42.620 You're not the law.

00:27:43.640 And I'm being arrested because the police say that's half the least.

00:27:47.940 So you had a designated area to stay in and you agreed to stay in it.

00:27:52.520 I didn't know what you're talking about.

00:27:54.300 Because it's not up to him to say, well, please leave the staff.

00:27:57.020 You're a president.

00:27:57.800 He's inciting them.

00:27:58.760 I mean, that's exactly what you're trying to do.

00:28:00.420 Because I'm a Jew.

00:28:01.100 No, because you're trying to incite them.

00:28:02.440 I haven't tried to incite them.

00:28:03.620 I want you to take a picture of the hate crime that you're abiding.

00:28:06.080 You could have done it on the other side.

00:28:07.060 You didn't need to walk over.

00:28:08.080 You're refusing to leave?

00:28:09.000 I'm refusing to leave.

00:28:10.080 Why?

00:28:10.860 Because I'm a Jew.

00:28:12.520 I'm a citizen.

00:28:13.620 And I'm your boss.

00:28:15.040 And I don't leave if you say Jews are allowed on the street. 1.00

00:28:16.940 Well, you know what?

00:28:17.540 In the interest of keeping peace here and public safety, you're under arrest for reason of peace.

00:28:22.920 Public safety.

00:28:23.860 Hey, guys.

00:28:25.060 I'm the threat to public safety with my camera.

00:28:27.820 Not the 20 people chanting death to the Jews, intifada to the Jews, intifada revolution.

00:28:32.740 There is only one solution.

00:28:34.040 Like, they're using Nazi-like language.

00:28:36.140 They're literally having an homage to the terrorist leader, Yahya Sinwar.

00:28:40.320 It's abominable.

00:28:43.120 So, yeah, that was my Sunday afternoon.

00:28:45.080 What did you do over the weekend?

00:28:46.260 How was your weekend?

00:28:48.280 Now, I'm not sure how long I was actually in custody.

00:28:50.980 Like I say, they took my watch on my phone.

00:28:53.100 Let's say it was two hours.

00:28:54.200 So, I don't want to overdo it.

00:28:58.640 But I've never been arrested before.

00:29:01.300 I've never been jailed before.

00:29:02.700 I've never been handcuffed before.

00:29:04.200 And you know what?

00:29:04.780 I mean, I don't want to get too mad at the beat cops.

00:29:06.960 But you know I've got a watch.

00:29:08.500 I've got a watch.

00:29:09.080 A lot of people wear watches.

00:29:10.020 And weirdly, they put the handcuff over.

00:29:14.720 And you know what?

00:29:15.420 I think I might have cracked my watch now that I see it.

00:29:18.460 Like, they put the handcuff on this wrist here.

00:29:20.620 And on this one, they put the handcuff around the watch.

00:29:26.060 So, when they tightened it, it was – it had the watch – like, I mean, it's not thick.

00:29:33.560 But it was extremely tight.

00:29:35.780 And today, a day later, I've still got sort of dark bruises.

00:29:41.560 I mean, I shouldn't laugh about it.

00:29:42.860 But, like, why wouldn't you move the watch or take the watch off?

00:29:47.080 Like, I don't know if you saw – can you call up Mayor Weinstein's video?

00:29:49.940 I don't know if you have the video of me being searched and put in the back of the police car.

00:29:54.620 Like, you're handcuffed.

00:29:56.180 You can't do anything, right?

00:29:57.740 So, they took the AirPods out of my ears.

00:30:01.220 They reached into my pocket to get – like, it was really weird.

00:30:05.040 When you're under arrest, you're like a baby being lifted by a parent.

00:30:09.480 Like, you were completely vulnerable.

00:30:10.820 You're absolutely under the power of the cops, especially when you're handcuffed.

00:30:15.060 So, it's really weird not being the boss of yourself or the boss of your person.

00:30:19.660 Like, if someone came up to me and took the AirPods out of my ears and put their hand in my pocket,

00:30:24.000 like, that would be deeply invasive.

00:30:26.180 That's what it's like when you're arrested.

00:30:27.540 And I was worried that they were going to do to me what they had done to David Menzies.

00:30:31.800 Remember when they slammed him on the hood of a car?

00:30:34.740 And once they put him in the back of the car and they hit his head and they cut it?

00:30:38.680 Like, cops can be abusive.

00:30:40.060 So, I suppose I should be grateful that the cops who arrested me,

00:30:43.300 other than that weird handcuff around the watch.

00:30:45.980 The point is, it was so tight.

00:30:48.500 But the watch was like this – it's a metal thing.

00:30:52.800 I don't know.

00:30:53.140 That was really weird to me.

00:30:54.500 Like, why would you put the handcuff there, especially when you took other things?

00:30:59.780 Anyhow, it was not pleasant.

00:31:04.860 The main problem with my arrest was not the discomfort.

00:31:09.540 The main problem with my arrest was not the two hours I spent in solitary in a cell.

00:31:15.820 The main problem was not even the humiliation of being frog-marched by a pack of braying Hamas hyenas. 0.98

00:31:26.180 The main problem was a violation of my rights, an intangible.

00:31:32.260 I'm a citizen.

00:31:33.700 My great-grandfather came to Canada in 1903.

00:31:37.140 Settled in Alberta before he was even a province.

00:31:40.980 That came two years later, 1905.

00:31:42.840 I'm a fourth-generation Canadian.

00:31:46.800 I'm a citizen.

00:31:47.840 I'm a taxpayer.

00:31:48.880 I've never been arrested for anything in my life before.

00:31:53.500 I'm a journalist.

00:31:57.060 And some cop says you're not allowed to be here because they're upset with you.

00:32:05.860 They're upset with me for what reason?

00:32:07.500 I haven't interacted with them.

00:32:08.760 I haven't said or done anything to them.

00:32:10.180 They're only upset with me for one reason.

00:32:13.220 It's because I'm Jewish.

00:32:14.260 Now, I don't lead with that.

00:32:15.740 I mean, we've done 50,000 news stories plus here at Rebel News.

00:32:19.920 And the vast majority about them have nothing to do with Jews or Israel or anything.

00:32:24.600 Over the last past year, we've talked about Israel because it's been such an international news story.

00:32:29.980 But we talk about immigration.

00:32:33.140 We talk about oil and gas.

00:32:34.400 We talk about – we talk about 100 subjects.

00:32:37.620 We talk about freedom of speech.

00:32:39.080 We talk about Trudeau.

00:32:40.020 We talk about Trump.

00:32:41.200 Like we're not an explicitly Jewish organization.

00:32:43.840 I'd have to do the math.

00:32:46.540 But as far as I know, there's – you know, I'm Jewish and I'll be in – you mean in Australia

00:32:50.980 is Jewish.

00:32:51.440 But I don't – just trying to think.

00:32:53.200 I don't think we have any other Jewish reporters.

00:32:55.400 Our head of social media does some videos.

00:32:57.300 He's Jewish.

00:32:57.780 But that's it.

00:32:59.040 But like it's 90% Christian or whatever.

00:33:06.400 The problem with my being there wasn't that I was a journalist.

00:33:11.640 It's that I was a Jew.

00:33:14.160 That was the problem to Hamas. 0.91

00:33:16.760 So Hamas said to the cops, he's inciting us by virtue, not of the fact that I was a journalist,

00:33:23.860 but by virtue that I was a Jew.

00:33:25.140 That was the only thing they were chanting about.

00:33:27.640 Last week they were saying go back to Poland, blah, blah, blah.

00:33:31.840 By the way, I've never been to Poland.

00:33:33.300 No one in my family is from Poland.

00:33:34.820 I've never been there.

00:33:37.540 I'm a Canadian.

00:33:38.760 And there's something extremely bizarre about people who just got off the plane have such

00:33:45.460 a thick accent you can barely understand them.

00:33:47.720 And they're telling me, a fourth-generation Canadian, to go back to Poland, which is not

00:33:53.200 where I'm from.

00:33:54.200 They are colonizers.

00:33:55.820 It's absolutely grotesque.

00:34:00.520 All right.

00:34:01.100 I want to just check in with Olivia here.

00:34:02.960 I want to make sure I'm doing whatever business I have to do.

00:34:07.780 And I want to talk a little bit about Rumble.

00:34:14.480 Because what we're talking about here on the live stream, it's carried on, if I'm not mistaken,

00:34:19.280 on Twitter, YouTube, and Rumble.

00:34:20.980 Is that right, Olivia?

00:34:21.660 YouTube is atrocious.

00:34:26.080 They demonetized us.

00:34:27.680 They throttle us.

00:34:28.700 It's a disgrace, really.

00:34:30.480 The only reason we're still on YouTube is that we have 1.7 million subscribers there.

00:34:34.500 Even though we get no money from them, I still want to talk to them.

00:34:37.580 I love the 1.7 million people.

00:34:39.600 I just absolutely despise the middlemen who have cut us off from those people.

00:34:43.160 So we still publish to YouTube.

00:34:45.260 I love Elon Musk's X because they're into freedom.

00:34:47.940 But the video platform, the freedom video platform, that's a counterweight and an antidote

00:34:52.980 to YouTube is Rumble.

00:34:54.120 And I'd like to read a word on their behalf.

00:34:57.520 This sponsorship is from Rumble, one that's incredibly important to the survival of the

00:35:01.880 company.

00:35:02.980 When Rumble first started in 2013, they built the platform for the small creator.

00:35:07.240 They didn't censor or have biases.

00:35:08.960 They were fair and treated all creators equally.

00:35:10.580 No one thought platforms would censor political conversation or censor opinions on COVID, but

00:35:15.880 they did.

00:35:16.940 Facebook admitted they felt a pressure from the Biden and Harris administration.

00:35:21.620 Rumble did not.

00:35:22.460 They held the line.

00:35:23.760 They're attacked daily for giving us a voice to talk to you.

00:35:26.760 They're attacked in corporate media.

00:35:28.460 They're attacked by governments like France.

00:35:30.480 They're attacked from brand advertisers who refuse to work with them.

00:35:34.520 Corporate America is fighting to remove speech.

00:35:37.040 Rumble is fighting to keep it.

00:35:38.160 Rumble won't survive with brand advertisers.

00:35:41.380 They don't get much of it.

00:35:43.400 Watching our show on Rumble is the most they can ask from you.

00:35:47.780 But if you really believe in this fight and if you have the means, one major way you can

00:35:52.720 help Rumble survive is by joining Rumble Premium.

00:35:55.580 Absolutely.

00:35:56.400 You've got to do that.

00:35:57.360 Join the community that believes in the First Amendment or in Canada, Section 2B of the

00:36:02.000 Charter of Rights.

00:36:03.600 Rumble is offering $10 off with the promo code STUDIO.

00:36:07.520 When you purchase an annual subscription, go to rumble.com slash premium and use the promo

00:36:12.320 code STUDIO.

00:36:14.740 Like I said, if you have the means and believe in the cause, now is the time to join Rumble

00:36:18.200 Premium.

00:36:19.280 If you don't have the means, we're just happy if you watch us on Rumble.

00:36:22.740 All right.

00:36:23.020 I want to make sure that we have no typos of that.

00:36:24.820 I believe every word of that.

00:36:26.400 I've met the Rumble guys.

00:36:28.140 They love free speech.

00:36:29.920 And in fact, we'll have more to say about Rumble in a few weeks.

00:36:33.060 I just want to make sure some of that wording, I didn't know who they was.

00:36:35.500 It looked like one sentence ended a little early there.

00:36:38.020 But I am a Rumble fanatic.

00:36:39.700 And you can see behind me, let me just, there you go.

00:36:42.900 You see our little Rumble.

00:36:44.280 It says Rebel.

00:36:45.380 And then it says Rumble there.

00:36:47.380 Huge fans.

00:36:47.960 And by the way, they're from Canada, which I like.

00:36:51.640 And boy, we need the help to fight for freedom in Canada.

00:36:55.300 Can you, you know what?

00:36:56.000 If you're not deep into Rumble, you've got to.

00:36:59.640 I mean, I still use YouTube from time to time.

00:37:01.960 And of course, I love Twitter.

00:37:03.220 But Rumble is the video platform if you love freedom.

00:37:06.420 It is so true. 0.88

00:37:07.460 I, you know what?

00:37:09.280 That isn't even emphatic enough to reflect my actual views on Rumble.

00:37:13.640 So can you do me a personal favor and go to rumble.com slash premium and use the promo code studio.

00:37:21.500 It's going to save you $10.

00:37:23.460 So don't forget to type in studio as the promo code.

00:37:27.980 And it's ad free.

00:37:29.580 And you're supporting good guys who are, they really are in the front rank with Elon Musk defending freedom.

00:37:36.400 I, I would, it would, if you say, Ezra, how can we help?

00:37:39.240 Well, help me by helping yourself by getting a premium subscription to Rumble and type in studio, get 10 bucks off.

00:37:45.340 All right.

00:37:46.060 I know I'm ranting a bit, but we have so few allies that when a company puts their, puts it all on the line, you got to help them.

00:37:54.140 You got to help them.

00:37:55.580 All right.

00:37:56.580 Okay.

00:37:56.980 Well, it's 1.38 and I've been talking a lot about my very exciting weekend.

00:38:02.500 I'm trying to, oh, there's a, there's a Rumble rant from Ryerson Gary.

00:38:06.680 It's nice to support the blue, referring to the police.

00:38:11.080 However, until the rank and file and their unions speak up how the police elite treat Hamas, one can only assume that they one and all are in silent agreement.

00:38:21.100 Could be.

00:38:25.020 But I don't think so.

00:38:26.200 And just when I start to think so, when I get so depressed about the police, fate has it that I bump into a cop who says, you know what, there's a, there's an officer.

00:38:36.540 I was chatting.

00:38:37.460 I was taken to the police station where they have this, I call it a jail.

00:38:42.360 It's a bunch of holding cells.

00:38:43.440 It's where you're first taken and they search you and they take your belongings and you sign that and, and they ask you about, do you have a medical issue or this and that.

00:38:52.260 They tell you the rules.

00:38:53.080 And so it's, it's sort of a hole in jail.

00:38:57.640 And I'm not going to tell you which cop it was, but I was talking to a bunch of them.

00:39:02.880 And those were not the guys that ordered me arrested.

00:39:05.720 So I was, you know, engaging in banter and chatter and just try, you know, I was trying to keep my own spirits high by being upbeat.

00:39:14.480 I sort of knew that I would get out that day.

00:39:17.320 I didn't, I was certain they wouldn't hold me overnight because they had nothing.

00:39:20.980 And I'm not going to say I became friends with the cops.

00:39:23.160 I was only there for a couple hours, but it was friendly enough that on my way out the door when I literally was leaving them, I'm not even, yeah, I'm not going to tell you which cop it was.

00:39:30.800 But he said, we should have a drink sometime.

00:39:34.400 Swear to God, he said that.

00:39:36.180 He said, we should have a drink sometime.

00:39:39.820 And it's not because of my scintillating personality.

00:39:42.880 It's because, you know, he, you know, I, we didn't get, he was following the rules and he was doing his job, but he could tell that this was a political arrest.

00:39:51.700 Let me just leave it at that.

00:39:52.880 And I obviously was, it was a, in fact, it wasn't even political.

00:39:56.460 It was just that Officer McDuff didn't like the fact that I spoke back to him and called him out as a servant, not of our law, but of a servant of Hamas. 0.76

00:40:07.980 It's been interesting to see the public reaction.

00:40:11.180 It is 1.40 p.m. Eastern time.

00:40:17.020 And I've done some radio in Toronto.

00:40:19.680 I did Ben Mulroney's show.

00:40:22.060 I did Jerry Agar's show, as you just heard.

00:40:25.120 I also did Fox News Channel.

00:40:27.000 You want to grab that and we'll play a little bit of that.

00:40:31.000 I'm doing Newsmax, I think it is, tonight.

00:40:34.300 I've heard from, actually, I have to call the National Post back.

00:40:41.620 Here's my appearance on an early morning Fox show.

00:40:46.440 Take a look.

00:40:47.520 Protests in Canada.

00:40:49.400 And now a Jewish journalist is arrested at a pro-Hamas rally in his own neighborhood that's in Toronto.

00:40:55.080 Here's how it happened.

00:40:55.980 I think you're a coward also, because you'll do what they say, because it's the path of least resistance.

00:41:04.800 No, I'm trying to keep the peace.

00:41:06.480 No, you're not here in the room.

00:41:07.480 You're refusing to leave?

00:41:08.140 I'm refusing to leave.

00:41:09.260 Why?

00:41:10.000 Because I'm a Jew, I'm a citizen, and I'm your boss.

00:41:14.220 And I don't leave if you say Jews are the law on the street. 1.00

00:41:16.140 Well, you know what?

00:41:16.840 In the interest of keeping peace here and public safety, you're under arrest for breach of the peace.

00:41:21.140 Take a minute.

00:41:21.500 I'm good.

00:41:21.940 Ezra Levant is the publisher of Rebel News.

00:41:28.080 He joins us now.

00:41:29.820 I saw this happening yesterday.

00:41:31.280 I haven't heard from you directly as to how you saw it, but I sent a text around saying, what in the world is happening?

00:41:37.400 So can you tell us, what was it like there at the moment in your own neighborhood?

00:41:42.040 Sure, it was a residential neighborhood, so there's no Israeli consulate or any political target there.

00:41:47.540 They were going after.

00:41:48.600 Anyway, I basically make the arguments that I made earlier in our show here.

00:41:55.540 It was just nice to be on Fox.

00:41:57.080 I wanted to show you that.

00:41:58.360 I was also on the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:42:01.280 That's sort of a podcast, a very large podcast in America.

00:42:05.960 I've been invited to go on Infowars.

00:42:08.240 I think it's still called Infowars.

00:42:09.500 I haven't been following the news with Alex Jones, but I think that's coming up in about 45 minutes.

00:42:16.380 There's a little bit more interest in Canada this time around than there normally is.

00:42:21.000 Normally, Canadian media are absolutely silent about the fate of Rebel News and when we're arrested.

00:42:27.580 In fact, if you listen to the whole Jerry Agar interview, and we tweeted it out, someone texted in, oh, there's people who say, oh, Rebel News loves being arrested.

00:42:41.860 They must love being arrested because they're arrested so much.

00:42:45.600 No, actually, we hate being arrested.

00:42:47.800 And the more we're arrested, the more we hate it.

00:42:49.960 And we do not arrest ourselves and we do not ask to be arrested.

00:42:54.440 You saw me.

00:42:55.340 I was just by myself, very low key, with a camera.

00:42:58.140 And the police arrested me because I defied them when they said, get out.

00:43:03.400 And I said, you're not my boss.

00:43:06.380 Do you think the police are your boss?

00:43:09.100 On what sidewalk you can walk or not?

00:43:12.640 Maybe common sense says walk around if you're a pedestrian, but I wasn't passing by as a pedestrian.

00:43:17.900 I was there as a journalist.

00:43:19.960 Are the police my editor-in-chief?

00:43:23.040 Do I need to convince the policeman that this is a legitimate public interest news story?

00:43:28.640 You've got people waving terrorist flags, reenacting terrorist attacks, wearing terrorist-style masks.

00:43:35.660 These are foreign nationals.

00:43:38.440 You're saying that's not newsworthy?

00:43:40.420 That I don't have a charter two, section two of the charter right to be there?

00:43:45.560 The Constitution of Canada, the Charter of Rights and Freedom, section 2B, gives me freedom of the press.

00:43:51.400 Not freedom of the press subject to what some cop finds more convenient.

00:43:57.520 And by the way, look at all the thugs who were marching along there.

00:44:00.420 If I was really causing a disturbance, why were they coming along?

00:44:05.420 And why weren't the police tamping them down?

00:44:09.640 You know, I want to show you a case, a legal case.

00:44:13.040 It's from our Supreme Court of Canada.

00:44:15.140 I only heard about this case yesterday because I, although, you know, frankly, I'm sort of surprised I haven't heard about it before because it's sort of up my alley.

00:44:28.700 And it's a case called Fleming versus Ontario.

00:44:34.560 And it's a Supreme Court case, and I'm just calling it up on my screen, and we've got it there for you, too.

00:44:41.760 I'm going to read what's called the head notes.

00:44:44.340 Can we do that?

00:44:45.300 So I've got the same document open that you do, and you scroll up a little bit more, up a little bit?

00:44:51.320 Yeah, perfect, right there.

00:44:52.700 And if you want to put that on the screen, I'll read through this.

00:44:56.120 So by the way, let me just tell you a little something about how Supreme Court rulings are published.

00:45:00.820 So the courts, the judges put their heads together, and they have clerks, and they sort of negotiate how they write this thing.

00:45:10.780 And scroll down a little bit, right to there, perfect.

00:45:14.120 And so they write a court ruling, and in this case, the court ruling is, oh, I can't see how many pages long, but it's quite long, as Supreme Court rulings are.

00:45:26.240 So there's a summary of the case called a head note.

00:45:29.740 And I'm going to read the head note, because obviously I'm not going to read, like, a multi-page court ruling to you.

00:45:36.260 So you can see the case is called Fleming v. Ontario, and it's from 2019, so it's fairly recent.

00:45:44.800 You can see the names of the judges, Wagner, Abella, Moldeva, Cote, etc.

00:45:49.480 So this was an appeal from the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

00:45:54.060 So this case had ricocheted around Ontario, and it was important enough that the Supreme Court thought they would weigh in on it.

00:46:00.580 So let me read the head notes.

00:46:02.800 Counterprotestors are charged with obstructing police, but charged later withdrawn.

00:46:20.520 Counterprotestors are filing statement claim against province and police officers seeking general damages for assault and battery, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment, aggravated or punitive damages and damages for violations of various constitutional rights.

00:46:35.180 Whether police have common law power to address, to arrest someone acting lawfully in order to prevent apprehended breach of peace by others.

00:46:42.500 Okay, that was sort of sentence fragments, but you see, so Fleming didn't do anything wrong.

00:46:53.920 Other people were going to breach the peace if Fleming was there, so cops arrest Fleming.

00:47:00.900 Well, maybe that ought to be my mental name.

00:47:03.520 Now, I'm going to read a little bit more.

00:47:04.840 So again, this is still part of the head note, okay?

00:47:06.980 I'm not going to take too much time, but this is the top court in Canada.

00:47:10.800 This is binding on every cop in the country.

00:47:14.100 Let me read it to you.

00:47:16.440 Fleming was arrested while walking to a counter-protest flag rally organized in response to Six Nations protesters' occupation of a piece of crown land.

00:47:26.400 So this is in Ontario.

00:47:28.240 There's a dispute between Indigenous folks and other folks about who gets to be on the land.

00:47:32.800 The police became aware of the flag rally in the months preceding it and had developed an operational plan, given the contentious atmosphere in the community, which had on numerous occasions culminated in violent clashes between the two sides.

00:47:46.780 There's some similarities here, aren't there?

00:47:49.940 The plan included keeping protesters and counter-protesters apart.

00:47:53.620 And flag rally counter-protesters were informed that they were not allowed on the occupied property.

00:47:59.140 When the police spotted Fleming walking on the shoulder of the road, running along the occupied property, they headed toward him with the intentions of placing themselves between him and the entrance to the property.

00:48:09.240 To avoid the police vehicles, Fleming stepped onto the occupied property, which appeared to cause a reaction in a group of protesters, some of whom began moving toward him.

00:48:18.360 An officer then approached Fleming and told him he was under arrest to prevent a breach of the peace.

00:48:22.840 When Fleming refused to drop the flag he was carrying, he was forced to the ground, handcuffed, placed in an offender's transport unit van, moved to a jail cell and released two and a half hours later.

00:48:32.220 Sounds familiar, although they didn't slam me on the ground.

00:48:35.140 The Crown eventually withdrew the charge of obstructing a police officer, which had been laid against Fleming for resisting his arrest.

00:48:42.780 Fleming subsequently filed a statement of claim, so he sued the province and the police officers who had been involved in his arrest.

00:48:49.680 He claimed general damages for assault and battery, wrongful arrest and false imprisonment, as well as aggravated or punitive damages and damages for the violation of his rights.

00:48:58.480 This is the most important part here.

00:49:00.620 Section 2B, that's freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of speech.

00:49:05.140 7, 9, and 15.

00:49:06.440 That 7 is, I think, due process 15 is equality.

00:49:09.780 I forget section 9.

00:49:12.480 Fleming was successful at trial, but a majority of the Court of Appeals set aside the award of damages on the basis that the police had the authority at common law to arrest him.

00:49:20.180 The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial solely on the issue of excessive force.

00:49:24.160 Fleming appeals to the court on the issue of whether the police acted lawfully in arresting him and on whether a new trial should have been ordered on the question of excessive force.

00:49:32.960 Okay, so that's the head note, but just give me the next paragraph.

00:49:37.920 Held.

00:49:38.740 So this is the result.

00:49:40.640 The appeal should be allowed and the trial judge orders restored.

00:49:44.520 Here's the takeaway.

00:49:45.720 The following sentence is the summary of the entire case.

00:49:48.660 Fleming's arrest was not authorized by law, and there is no basis for intervening in the trial judge's conclusion that the province and the police were liable for battery for their use of force in unlawfully arresting him.

00:50:06.120 As a result, no new trial is needed on the issue of excessive force.

00:50:13.360 And I'm going to scroll down.

00:50:14.620 There is a lot in the head notes, aren't there?

00:50:16.800 And again, this isn't actually written by the judges.

00:50:19.260 These are summaries, so you don't have to read the whole huge thing.

00:50:22.700 Can you skip ahead to the words, as there is no common law power to arrest someone?

00:50:31.800 It's the very last paragraph.

00:50:33.240 Yeah.

00:50:34.060 And let me just read this.

00:50:35.220 Guys, I know I've taken up a lot of your time, but we're learning together.

00:50:37.920 I was actually unfamiliar with this court case until yesterday.

00:50:41.300 You'd think I would know it because it's really up my alley.

00:50:43.720 So let me, I'm going to read the last paragraph of what's called the head note.

00:50:48.160 So this is basically the clerk summarizing the lengthy ruling that follows.

00:50:54.460 As there is no common law power to arrest someone who's acting lawfully in order to prevent an apprehended breach of the peace by others,

00:51:03.080 the police in this case did not have the lawful authority to arrest Fleming.

00:51:08.580 Well, hello.

00:51:10.160 Did you see what happened to me?

00:51:12.120 I was not breaking the law.

00:51:14.440 There was a breach of the peace apprehended by others.

00:51:17.540 Other people were going to breach the peace.

00:51:19.880 I was doing nothing wrong and the cop arrested me.

00:51:22.220 He said so.

00:51:24.020 What's so amazing about my interaction yesterday, if I may, is that the cops were narrating what they were doing because I was asking them the whole time.

00:51:32.940 It's not like I was standing there and they swooped in and arrested me and I said, hey, what's going on?

00:51:40.380 We had the conversation for minutes and minutes and minutes before they arrested me.

00:51:44.420 So I knew what was going on.

00:51:45.420 I knew it was exactly in their mind.

00:51:47.540 Because they told me.

00:51:49.600 You don't think that's going to be played in court?

00:51:51.760 Here, let me finish reading this.

00:51:55.140 The trial judge specifically found that Fleming had not done anything unlawful before being arrested.

00:52:02.880 There was no evidence before her that he had committed any offense in walking along the street, entering the occupied property,

00:52:09.520 or standing there with his Canadian flag.

00:52:12.300 Imagine arresting a guy for a Canadian flag.

00:52:14.080 That's where we are in Canada.

00:52:15.540 Nor was there evidence that he had himself been about to commit an indictable offense or a breach of the peace.

00:52:22.040 The province and the police have not sought to challenge that finding on appeal, nor have they cited or relied on any statutory power to arrest Fleming.

00:52:30.760 They rely entirely on a common law power to arrest someone who is acting lawfully in order to prevent an apprehended breach of the peace by other persons.

00:52:37.760 A power that does not exist.

00:52:38.760 A power that does not exist.

00:52:41.060 That power does not exist.

00:52:43.100 Well, you know what that cop said?

00:52:44.380 I am the law.

00:52:45.700 No, you're not.

00:52:46.660 And it sounds like you need a judge to tell you that.

00:52:50.340 In light of this conclusion, a new trial on the issue of excessive force is not necessary.

00:52:54.240 As the police were not authorized the common law to arrest Fleming, no amount of force would have been justified for the purpose of accomplishing the task.

00:53:03.400 You know, in law school, they use Latin, and they would say QED quod erat demonstrandum.

00:53:11.080 Just demonstrated the whole point there.

00:53:13.780 I know we spent a lot of time on that, but do you feel smarter?

00:53:16.280 Olivia, do you feel smarter about the law?

00:53:17.800 Well, I do too.

00:53:20.020 And I, you know, I'm sort of embarrassed that I didn't know this case because it is sort of a case up my alley.

00:53:28.220 Because we have been arrested time and again because someone else is getting excitable.

00:53:33.760 Fleming versus Ontario, 2019 Supreme Court of Canada case, could not be clearer.

00:53:39.520 Remember, you cannot arrest someone who's not breaking any law just because someone else might breach the peace because of them.

00:53:48.220 You can't victim blame.

00:53:51.120 And it sounds like that was a unanimous ruling.

00:53:56.420 We've just walked through this case together.

00:53:58.540 They had notes.

00:53:59.540 Obviously, I'm not going to read a multi-page ruling.

00:54:03.460 Those are the official head notes of the Supreme Court of Canada.

00:54:06.040 Do you have any doubt that I was wrongfully arrested?

00:54:10.600 Now, I'm glad I wasn't thrown to the ground.

00:54:13.560 But you heard that last sentence there.

00:54:15.920 Because it was a false arrest, no amount of force is justified.

00:54:21.160 Right?

00:54:22.200 And I'm not going to overly dramatize the bruises on my wrist, but I want to tell you that hurts.

00:54:29.380 I mean, I wasn't crying.

00:54:31.480 And the longer you have those things on, it really starts to get at you.

00:54:36.040 And why did they handcuff me in the first place?

00:54:38.760 Did they think I was going to – I'm a 50-year-old man.

00:54:42.580 And some say I'm in tip-top shape, but I wouldn't know who would say such a thing.

00:54:48.100 What did they think I was going to do?

00:54:49.780 Attack the cops?

00:54:51.660 Seriously, why was I handcuffed?

00:54:53.560 Other than to humiliate me.

00:54:56.500 Did they think I was going to run away?

00:54:59.040 You know, I mean, it's just so absurd.

00:55:01.140 There was no reason to handcuff me at all.

00:55:04.320 And they kept the handcuffs on in the back of the police car.

00:55:06.920 What did they think I was going to do back there?

00:55:09.640 So did you catch that line in Fleming v. Ontario?

00:55:13.020 Because the arrest was illegal, no amount of force is justified.

00:55:20.740 QED, my friends.

00:55:23.080 Well, it's 1.56.

00:55:24.100 I want to make sure that I'm doing my duties here.

00:55:27.560 Is there any more ad reads I need to do, Olivia?

00:55:31.120 It's not ready yet.

00:55:32.020 It's not ready yet.

00:55:33.060 Okay.

00:55:35.420 Well, are there any more live chats or rumble rants, as they're sometimes called?

00:55:41.460 You know, it doesn't look like it.

00:55:42.320 Well, listen, it's nice to be back in the chair.

00:55:45.880 It's sort of been an intense 36 hours or 24 hours for me.

00:55:54.980 There's a reason why Rebel News is on the front line.

00:56:00.360 It's because we are often the only people willing to fight.

00:56:07.540 And so the government knows that if it can stop us, it can stop anyone.

00:56:12.320 Because who else would be foolish enough to fight?

00:56:15.260 And if Rebel News is defeated, if Rebel News can be arrested, if Ezra Levant can be arrested,

00:56:20.040 if David Menzies can be arrested, if Rebel News can be punched in the face by the cops,

00:56:25.300 clearly in violation of Fleming v. Ontario, would anyone else say, oh, I'll take a chance

00:56:31.260 of that?

00:56:31.440 Would a private citizen take a chance of that?

00:56:33.720 Would another news agency take a chance of that?

00:56:36.280 No.

00:56:38.360 Rebel News is the pointy edge of the spear when it comes to civil liberties.

00:56:42.320 I say again, where's the Canadian Association of Journalists?

00:56:47.120 You just saw a journalist arrested because the subject of the journalism didn't want them

00:56:51.460 there.

00:56:52.020 Where's the Canadian Association of Journalists?

00:56:54.340 Where's Canadian Journalists for Free Expression?

00:56:56.100 Where's Canadian Civil Abuse Association?

00:56:57.900 Where's Pan Canada? 0.89

00:56:59.480 Where's Amnesty International?

00:57:01.660 Where are they all?

00:57:03.000 And on the Jewish side, where's the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs?

00:57:07.960 CJEA, as it's called.

00:57:08.960 Where are they?

00:57:10.280 Where are all the official people?

00:57:12.700 I know where they are.

00:57:15.440 They're all applying for grants from Justin Trudeau.

00:57:17.720 So they don't dare criticize Trudeau.

00:57:22.500 With a Trudeau mindset, they don't dare support Rebel News.

00:57:25.860 They're not actually supporting Rebel News.

00:57:27.300 They're supporting the principle that you don't arrest journalists.

00:57:29.540 But that's, they're not going to say that when it's Rebel News in the wind.

00:57:35.220 I appreciate your support.

00:57:39.700 We did hire a lawyer yesterday.

00:57:42.200 Thankfully, we didn't need her to fight the big battle because they released me without

00:57:48.140 charges.

00:57:49.120 But we're going to take on an even bigger battle.

00:57:51.700 We are going to sue the police.

00:57:53.420 I can't abide this.

00:57:55.600 And now that I know Fleming versus Ontario, so, what?

00:57:59.980 You only read the head note, but still.

00:58:01.520 So, what they did to me and what they've done to David is illegal.

00:58:06.260 And it sounds like they need a judge to tell them that.

00:58:09.340 If you want to help me out, go to SaveEzra.com.

00:58:11.740 It's sort of funny.

00:58:12.760 You know, we have so many websites.

00:58:14.340 Stand with David.

00:58:15.340 Stand with Alexa.

00:58:16.740 Stand with Avi.

00:58:18.480 Like, all our reporters who've been roughed up, we stand with them.

00:58:22.620 And it's sort of surprising in a way that I haven't been arrested until now.

00:58:26.080 But I was.

00:58:26.620 And so, I wonder if you would stand with me at SaveEzra.com.

00:58:32.100 And what are we going to do with that, though?

00:58:33.340 We're going to sue the government.

00:58:34.980 And we're going to sue them.

00:58:35.980 And we're going to use the case of Fleming versus Ontario as a precedent.

00:58:39.340 We're going to talk about our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

00:58:41.860 And we're going to call Officer Macduff as a witness.

00:58:48.100 And do you want to call up Hamlet?

00:58:50.540 No, sorry, Macbeth.

00:58:54.220 Lay on Macduff.

00:58:56.780 I'll send you the link.

00:58:58.720 There we go.

00:59:00.420 Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 8.

00:59:04.180 I'll put that in.

00:59:08.640 Can you find that quicker than I can send it to you?

00:59:12.140 Yeah, perfect.

00:59:13.800 Let me read to you from Macbeth.

00:59:15.900 Now, I maybe shouldn't because Macduff wins that battle.

00:59:23.140 But I love the little saying.

00:59:26.920 Forgive me here.

00:59:30.980 Right at the end.

00:59:35.300 If you type out, if you find the word lay on.

00:59:38.320 Can you find the word lay, L-A-Y? 0.99

00:59:51.420 Yeah.

00:59:52.180 So I'll just start right where it says Macbeth up there.

00:59:54.520 Do you see that?

00:59:55.040 So this is Macbeth to Macduff.

00:59:58.100 I will not yield to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet

01:00:05.600 and to be baited with the rabble's curse. 0.97

01:00:07.120 Though Burnham would be come to Dunsinane and thou opposed, being of no woman born.

01:00:11.520 Yet I will try the last.

01:00:13.760 Before my body I throw my warlike shield.

01:00:17.760 Lay on Macduff.

01:00:19.240 And damn it be he that first cries, hold, enough.

01:00:24.620 The cop who arrested me, who said he was the law, his name is Macduff.

01:00:30.240 Well, lay on, I say.

01:00:32.140 And damn it be he who first cries, hold, enough.

01:00:35.520 And it won't be me.

01:00:37.080 So let's see how that goes.

01:00:38.380 My friends, thanks for watching today.

01:00:40.280 On behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, goodbye.

01:00:44.460 And keep fighting for freedom.

01:00:45.440 And keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - November 25, 2024

REBEL ROUNDUP ｜ Ezra Levant reacts to his arrest by Toronto police

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