Rebel News Podcast - January 19, 2019


UK： Muslim gang in London attacks gay men — with acid. WATCH what happened next...


Episode Stats


Length

39 minutes

Words per minute

172.12723

Word count

6,828

Sentence count

540

Harmful content

Misogyny

13

sentences flagged

Hate speech

14

sentences flagged


Summary

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

A gang of nine men wait outside a gay nightclub, beating up anyone who comes out and spraying acid in their faces. So what did the judge do? Why should others go to jail when you re the biggest carbon consumer in the world?

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Tonight, a gang of nine men wait outside a gay nightclub,
00:00:03.260 beating up anyone who comes out and spraying acid in their faces.
00:00:07.420 So what did the judge do? What did the media do?
00:00:10.200 It's January 18th, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.
00:00:15.000 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?
00:00:18.760 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.
00:00:22.840 The only thing I have to say to the government, the wire publisher,
00:00:26.640 is because it's my bloody right to do so.
00:00:30.000 There's a bar in London, England, on the east side of the city
00:00:37.700 in a neighborhood called Hackney.
00:00:39.880 I've never been there, but the bar is called the Dalston Superstore.
00:00:45.280 It doesn't look much super on the outside.
00:00:48.480 It looks a bit run down, actually, but it looks a little bit colorful and lively.
00:00:51.860 As you can see from this photo, there are those gay pride rainbow flags hanging outside.
00:00:56.380 Now, during the day, it's a restaurant.
00:00:58.280 So, the photos online make it look pretty good.
00:01:02.900 The food looks good, British fare, a bit gourmet, you know, looks tasty, frankly.
00:01:10.400 That's it during the day.
00:01:11.800 It's an artsy cafe.
00:01:13.380 At night, it's a gay bar.
00:01:15.720 And the place apparently gets jam-packed.
00:01:17.720 Again, I'm just going by photos on the Internet.
00:01:19.940 I'm going to show you some photos.
00:01:20.760 Now, this is not pornography, but it's pretty gay. 0.99
00:01:24.120 If you're gay in Hackney, it sure looks like the place to go. 1.00
00:01:27.640 I don't know how many gays live in Hackney.
00:01:29.960 I think it's a changing neighborhood.
00:01:32.040 I looked at the ethnic demographics of Hackney.
00:01:34.540 It's always been a bit poor, I think.
00:01:36.580 It used to be pretty Jewish, actually, back in the day.
00:01:39.180 But the story of Hackney is the story of all London and the story of the United Kingdom.
00:01:43.640 White flight, or more accurately, Muslim immigration. 0.89
00:01:47.660 Obviously, whites are no longer the majority in Hackney.
00:01:49.940 But if I'm reading the census data correctly, the black population is also shrinking as a percentage.
00:01:56.380 What's growing is the Muslim population, or how they insist on referring to it in the UK, the Asian population.
00:02:02.180 Now, I don't know, when I hear the word Asian, I think of China, you know, the world's most populous country.
00:02:08.820 Or maybe Japan, or Korea, or Taiwan, or Vietnam, or India.
00:02:12.220 Which, by the way, is largely Hindu, some Sikhs there, too.
00:02:15.160 But in the United Kingdom, they use the word Asian as a code word for Muslim.
00:02:20.080 Which is weird, because one is a continent, and the other is a religion.
00:02:24.580 And Hackney is becoming more and more Muslim, of course, including Turks and Kurds.
00:02:30.080 And you've got this super gay, artsy cafe and music venue with raging transvestite parties going on right in the middle of the neighborhood.
00:02:40.840 Now, if you were a doe-eyed liberal, you'd call that diversity.
00:02:44.080 You'd say, isn't that wonderful?
00:02:46.320 Hackney's the best place in the world.
00:02:48.320 Diversity, and everyone's getting along.
00:02:52.820 But it's not really working out that way, is it?
00:02:54.860 Because oil and water don't really mix.
00:02:57.620 You can't put oil and water together and say, that's diverse.
00:03:01.560 They don't get along.
00:03:03.460 And here's a story from Hackney six years ago.
00:03:06.220 That woman there, wearing the full face obscuring niqab, she didn't want to take off her niqab when she was testifying in court. 1.00
00:03:14.000 So that's Hackney, too.
00:03:15.520 Not just the gay superstore.
00:03:19.040 In fact, it's a much, much bigger part of Hackney than the riot of color and exposed flesh.
00:03:24.160 That's the Dalston superstore.
00:03:26.600 And so I don't think it will surprise you one bit that one day, late at night, a gang of Turkish Muslim men went outside the Dalston superstore in the wee hours of the morning.
00:03:39.300 We're talking 3, 4 a.m., whatever.
00:03:42.460 After there was some all-night party at the gay club.
00:03:45.340 And they waited on the street nearby, just across the street.
00:03:47.700 And as the gay men emerged from this club, the gang of Turkish Muslims jumped out and beat them mercilessly. 1.00
00:03:57.640 And then when they were down, they took a bottle of acid that they had brought with them for this occasion.
00:04:04.720 I mean, seriously, who does that?
00:04:07.000 And sprayed the gay men in the face and eyes with acid. 0.99
00:04:13.220 That's what they did.
00:04:14.020 Here's how it was reported when it happened last year in the Evening Standard newspaper.
00:04:19.720 Dalston acid attack.
00:04:21.000 Witnesses described moment thugs hurled liquid over screaming victims.
00:04:25.300 All right, let me read some of it.
00:04:26.380 So this was the report right after the crime, but obviously before the trial.
00:04:30.260 This is right after it happened.
00:04:31.420 Ready?
00:04:31.540 Witnesses have described the moment attackers hurled acid at screaming revelers near a nightclub in East London.
00:04:37.900 Three men aged 17, 22, and 27 were injured after a noxious substance was thrown over them in Dalston in the early hours of Sunday.
00:04:45.920 Their injuries are not life-threatening.
00:04:48.140 However, it is not known if they will be life-changing, police said.
00:04:51.720 Well, I think simply being attacked brutally by a Muslim gang on the streets of London for being gay, I'm going to guess that would change a guy's life, whether or not his face was scarred forever, but I don't know.
00:05:02.420 Let me read some more.
00:05:03.260 Two men appeared to target people in Kingsland High Road just after 5 a.m.
00:05:08.400 One witness said the man who asked not to be named told The Standard he woke to hear a commotion outside a friend's flat close to the popular gay venue, Dalston Superstore.
00:05:17.020 He described the moment a car stopped in the middle of the road and two men jumped out and started beating people.
00:05:23.240 I'll read some more.
00:05:25.040 The 26-year-old witness said they were punching at people walking either side of the road.
00:05:29.220 One man was being kicked as he lay on the floor.
00:05:31.240 The people were terrified.
00:05:32.620 They weren't fighting back.
00:05:34.960 The men are then said to have taken water bottles from the car and began squirting passersby with a noxious substance.
00:05:41.740 He added, my first thought was, why are they squirting water?
00:05:44.380 But then I realized it was acid.
00:05:47.180 You know, that's a thing in London.
00:05:48.520 People carry around acid.
00:05:51.460 Like, I don't mean like just vinegar, like burning, burning chemical acid.
00:05:55.820 They carry it around in bottles to spray at each other and run away.
00:05:58.960 It happens every day there.
00:06:02.540 Here's more.
00:06:03.880 The man who says he had left the club shortly before the attack said this.
00:06:09.280 He sped off.
00:06:10.140 They sped off.
00:06:11.340 It's a typo in the article.
00:06:12.820 As he attempted to contact the police.
00:06:14.500 The witness had originally believed the victims had been leaving Dalston Superstore.
00:06:18.040 However, a spokesman for the venue said that the police have confirmed that they were not customers and that the venue was shut at the time of the attack.
00:06:23.780 Oh, here's my favorite line.
00:06:26.440 Scotland Yard are not currently treating the incident as a homophobic attack.
00:06:30.960 They're not.
00:06:32.920 Then it's not it's not a homophobic attack.
00:06:34.920 Hey, nothing to do with the gay club, because after all, it was closed.
00:06:39.700 So it had couldn't have.
00:06:41.520 All right.
00:06:42.240 OK, fast forward to today.
00:06:44.160 Here's the news after the trial.
00:06:45.740 So they caught the guys and they tried them and they convicted them and they sentenced them.
00:06:50.220 Let me read the news.
00:06:51.220 This is from the Hackney Gazette, which is the local paper.
00:06:56.860 Dalston homophobic acid attack gang of cowardly thugs jailed over truly shocking bank holiday assault.
00:07:05.080 Oh, well, so it was homophobic.
00:07:08.020 Huh.
00:07:08.380 Funny.
00:07:08.780 The Scotland Yard said it wasn't.
00:07:11.240 And it was a gang, not just one or two.
00:07:13.500 And did you see that gang there?
00:07:16.240 It's not what's the word?
00:07:17.580 It's not really a diverse gang, is it?
00:07:20.940 Let me read some more.
00:07:23.120 CCTV, that's close circuit TV, showing a cowardly thug launching a homophobic acid attack on strangers in Dalston last year has been released after he was today jailed for 17 years.
00:07:34.700 17 years.
00:07:35.420 That's a pretty long sentence.
00:07:36.940 But I know that like in Canada, that means he'll be back on the streets in five years.
00:07:41.380 But still, it's a fairly solid sentence.
00:07:44.020 I'll read some more.
00:07:45.900 Hackney man, Hussain O'Neill, 24, and his gang of eight wingmen targeted their first victim in Shacklewell Lane at 5 a.m. on Monday the 5th, a bank holiday.
00:07:56.620 I love that.
00:07:57.920 Oi, he's an hackney man, mate.
00:08:01.160 Oi, mate, he's an hackney lad.
00:08:02.820 Salt of the earth he is, gov.
00:08:04.600 And look at him.
00:08:05.840 Chip off the block of Prince Philip himself.
00:08:08.880 He's a hackney.
00:08:09.460 Put the picture up again.
00:08:10.680 Just put it up again.
00:08:11.540 Show what these hackney men look like.
00:08:15.660 Oi, he's an hackney man.
00:08:19.400 Gov.
00:08:20.440 Yeah, no.
00:08:21.380 No, he's not a hackney man.
00:08:23.040 Let me read some more from the hackney Gazette.
00:08:27.500 But they stamped and kicked him as he curled up in a ball on the ground and covered his face.
00:08:33.880 So this was a brave gang.
00:08:35.800 Nine on one.
00:08:37.400 Kicking a man when he's down.
00:08:38.680 Oi, that's a hackney way.
00:08:40.900 After an argument, he had gone to speak to one of the men as the group sat in cars in Alvington Crescent.
00:08:45.720 But he was quickly surrounded.
00:08:48.820 Now, I went on Google Maps in Alvington Crescent.
00:08:50.780 It's just one block away from the gay club.
00:08:52.320 Don't tell me this had nothing to do with the gay club. 1.00
00:08:56.000 I'll read some more.
00:08:57.140 Then they beat up another man who had started filming the attack on his phone after leaving a club.
00:09:01.520 Gee, what club was that?
00:09:03.480 While the first victim ran off, the second victim's friends intervened and a huge brawl erupted.
00:09:10.300 What were they all doing on the street at that hour?
00:09:13.000 I don't know if it was 2.30, 3.30, 4.00, 5.00 a.m.
00:09:15.700 What are you doing on the street at that hour?
00:09:19.320 I really think they were coming out of the club or milling around after coming out of the club.
00:09:22.760 But let me read some more.
00:09:24.300 During this, O'Neill, that's the hackney man,
00:09:28.140 escorted a corrosive substance from a plastic bottle into the second victim's face and eyes
00:09:32.940 while targeting others who tried to step in.
00:09:35.580 He suffered a fractured eye socket and was lucky to escape with his eyesight intact.
00:09:39.340 His recovery was described by doctors as miraculous.
00:09:42.220 Another person suffered burns to their tongue.
00:09:46.880 Look at these hackney lads.
00:09:50.280 They don't believe in diversity, though, do they?
00:09:53.320 I don't know.
00:09:54.220 It's not a very diverse group.
00:09:56.640 They got in their car at that hour with a plan.
00:10:00.100 They prepared these bottles of acid in advance.
00:10:03.460 This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment spontaneous thing.
00:10:05.880 They went to the gay club with acid in their car. 0.85
00:10:09.300 This was a plan.
00:10:10.040 How is that different from a terrorist attack, really?
00:10:13.680 The suspects then, let me read some more,
00:10:15.260 the suspects then got into three cars
00:10:17.080 and drove from the scene shouting homophobic comments at members of the group
00:10:23.100 and claiming that they run hackney.
00:10:25.800 Oi, mate, we'll get you again! 0.80
00:10:27.160 So they shouted homophobic comments,
00:10:31.700 but I thought that Scotland Yard,
00:10:33.260 that's their version of the FBI over there,
00:10:35.320 I thought that Scotland Yard specifically said it wasn't a hate crime.
00:10:37.860 That's what they said at the time, didn't they?
00:10:40.680 Now, I mentioned that one thug, the hackney man,
00:10:43.620 got a 17-year sentence, but others got far less.
00:10:46.400 A couple of the acid-throwers got 14 years, 0.83
00:10:48.480 so they'll be out in three.
00:10:50.380 But look at the rest of the sentences.
00:10:52.700 30 months, 27 months, 9 months, 2 years, 18 months.
00:10:58.360 You know, 18 months, he'll be out by summertime.
00:11:01.000 And, I mean, read here,
00:11:01.980 Turgut Attican, 23 of Roman Road,
00:11:04.740 was sentenced to 18 months for violent disorder,
00:11:07.520 suspended for 2 years.
00:11:08.660 Do you know what that means?
00:11:09.280 That means he doesn't go to jail.
00:11:10.820 He's just got to be on good behavior for 2 years
00:11:12.760 and he doesn't serve a day in jail.
00:11:13.960 Our friend Tommy Robinson got a 13-month sentence
00:11:16.960 for doing journalism.
00:11:19.400 Not for spraying anyone with acid.
00:11:21.160 And he served 10 weeks of that in solitary confinement.
00:11:23.680 We only got him out because we helped appeal.
00:11:25.620 Turgut Attican participates in an acid attack 0.79
00:11:29.880 and a brutal beating, gang beating,
00:11:32.260 outside a gang nightclub.
00:11:33.360 And he's told,
00:11:33.820 oh, be a little bit more better behaved
00:11:36.000 and you'll be fine.
00:11:36.720 No days in jail for you.
00:11:38.580 Really.
00:11:40.360 Now, have you heard of this story?
00:11:42.740 If you're in Canada or the United States,
00:11:45.340 of course you have not.
00:11:46.300 But if you're a Brit,
00:11:48.480 I doubt you have either.
00:11:50.660 Here's a Google News search of the word Dalston.
00:11:54.540 It's nothing.
00:11:56.160 Two small local papers,
00:11:58.540 the Hackney Gazette and its sister paper,
00:12:00.560 the Newham Recorder.
00:12:01.880 Same story.
00:12:02.720 And the Evening Standard,
00:12:04.140 the paper that reported on the original crime
00:12:05.820 and said that Scotland Yard said it was definitely
00:12:08.260 not a homophobic hate crime.
00:12:09.780 They don't seem to be interested anymore.
00:12:11.080 So you got the Hackney paper and its sister paper.
00:12:18.180 How can that be?
00:12:19.960 You've got a gang that loads up with weapons,
00:12:23.660 bottles of acid.
00:12:24.480 It's a shocking weapon.
00:12:26.600 They're camped out near a gay club in the wee hours.
00:12:29.340 There's three cars worth.
00:12:30.500 This is organized.
00:12:32.400 They attack and beat people and spray acid on gays,
00:12:35.800 spray acid on someone who comes to help.
00:12:37.620 They specifically insult them for being gay.
00:12:41.420 And that's not news?
00:12:44.340 That's just not even interesting?
00:12:48.480 Hey, dumb question.
00:12:49.720 If it were a gang of alt-right white Brits,
00:12:55.120 non-Muslims, do you think that would make news?
00:12:57.600 You know, soccer hooligans,
00:12:58.880 what they call football hooligans,
00:13:00.560 as they call it in the UK.
00:13:02.220 If they were in any way, say, linked to Tommy Robinson,
00:13:05.100 let's say, I mean, it would never happen.
00:13:06.420 Let's say you have three cars, guys who look like Tommy,
00:13:09.560 and they did this to a gay club.
00:13:11.720 Do you think there'd be any news coverage?
00:13:14.620 Teeny, tiny bit, maybe?
00:13:16.120 What if they were wearing red Donald Trump
00:13:17.840 Make America Great Again hats,
00:13:19.620 or UKIP or something?
00:13:21.100 Do you think it would make a little teeny, tiny bit of news?
00:13:23.480 Do you think the BBC would maybe do a workup
00:13:27.520 on all nine criminals,
00:13:28.720 checking out their Facebook pages,
00:13:30.460 interviewing their friends,
00:13:32.820 seeing what politicians they like,
00:13:35.120 interviewing family,
00:13:36.980 camping out outside their houses,
00:13:38.460 reviewing everything they've ever written on social media?
00:13:40.620 Do you think there would be debates in Parliament about,
00:13:42.960 do you think there'd be solidarity banners on the internet,
00:13:45.120 people putting little, you know,
00:13:46.740 stand with Dalston signs on,
00:13:48.340 do you think the Eiffel Tower would be lit up in rainbow colors?
00:13:51.020 But, it wasn't football hooligans.
00:13:55.420 It's Islam.
00:13:58.320 And the United Kingdom is more afraid of criticizing Islam
00:14:01.080 than they are afraid of gay bashing gangs.
00:14:03.560 I mean, of course.
00:14:05.380 Look, the United Kingdom is silent in the face of massive rape gangs
00:14:10.580 that targeted white schoolgirls as young as 11,
00:14:13.620 1,400 girls raped in one town.
00:14:15.820 If they can tolerate that,
00:14:17.920 of course they're not going to care about gay men.
00:14:23.360 And that Hackney Gazette,
00:14:24.760 that's one of the few papers who wrote about it,
00:14:26.500 the local, look at this.
00:14:27.680 Someone tweeted to them
00:14:29.280 why they never mentioned the word Islam in their story.
00:14:32.840 And look at the Hackney Gazette's reply.
00:14:36.140 How do you know what religion they are?
00:14:38.920 Well, mate, because they're Turks. 1.00
00:14:42.040 Almost 99% of Turks are Muslim.
00:14:44.000 And the names of these men were Muslim names.
00:14:46.060 Hustayn, Mustafa.
00:14:47.440 One of them was named Mehmet,
00:14:48.680 which is how the Turks say Mohammed.
00:14:51.140 So yeah, that's how we know what religion they are.
00:14:54.720 Imagine the journalistic incuriosity.
00:14:57.160 How do you know?
00:14:58.120 How do you know?
00:15:00.020 Yeah, because they're Turkish Muslims with Muslims' names.
00:15:03.860 When a reader made that very point,
00:15:06.260 they clapped back again.
00:15:07.600 They said, yawn, yawn.
00:15:09.700 We're not going to start guessing people's religions.
00:15:11.860 Just so ignorant and racist
00:15:13.360 or something to cut out and stick on their walls.
00:15:15.700 It wasn't determined.
00:15:16.860 It wasn't deemed relevant by the court
00:15:18.280 that sentenced them.
00:15:19.000 So it's not relevant.
00:15:19.780 Bye.
00:15:23.240 Oh, okay.
00:15:24.600 Hey, guys, it's not relevant.
00:15:26.480 The Hackney Gazette just said so.
00:15:28.100 And they totally, totally owned you there.
00:15:30.820 And look, Scotland Yard said so.
00:15:32.880 I mean, sure, they said a homophobic slur.
00:15:35.120 But so what?
00:15:35.800 I mean, just because somebody else,
00:15:36.980 Allah Akbar, doesn't mean they're Muslim, right? 1.00
00:15:38.840 That's what the Hackney Gazette would say.
00:15:39.900 And more to the point, no one else is even saying anything at all.
00:15:45.180 Now, I'm not even, I'm not sure if I'd call this a cover-up.
00:15:47.500 I mean, there were arrests and prosecutions
00:15:49.220 and convictions and sentences.
00:15:50.860 But there was also a lot of silence
00:15:52.160 and not a lot of, you know,
00:15:53.700 a lot of people talking about a lot of denial.
00:15:56.320 No politicians speaking out that I've seen.
00:15:58.360 No solidarity marches that I've seen.
00:16:01.580 How long do you think until stories like this
00:16:04.620 are no longer coming to us from Hackney, East London,
00:16:07.920 but are coming to us from Montreal or Mississauga or Minneapolis?
00:16:16.160 Or do you think maybe they already are here,
00:16:18.680 but our versions of Scotland Yard and our Hackney Gazettes
00:16:23.220 think those facts are not relevant?
00:16:28.320 Stay with us for more.
00:16:29.540 I've got some news for you.
00:16:30.400 Welcome back.
00:16:45.420 Well, earlier today,
00:16:46.860 we announced something that happened to us a few days ago.
00:16:51.820 In short, we were prosecuted,
00:16:54.440 convicted, and sentenced,
00:16:56.400 and fined by the government of Alberta
00:16:59.860 without us even being there.
00:17:02.400 They had a secret hearing.
00:17:03.860 We still have not seen any complaint against us.
00:17:06.400 But a new position called the Alberta Elections Commissioner.
00:17:10.200 That's not Elections Alberta that runs the election.
00:17:12.860 This is a new partisan appointment by Rachel Notley,
00:17:15.680 sort of a hunter-killer of her enemies,
00:17:18.700 who's already gone after the Taxpayers Federation,
00:17:20.880 a pro-life group.
00:17:22.120 Alberta Can't Wait That, 0.99
00:17:23.160 I think that's Prem Singh's group.
00:17:24.220 They're coming for us.
00:17:27.080 And even though when they first sent us a letter last month,
00:17:30.740 we immediately replied with our lawyer,
00:17:32.620 saying we're ready to engage with you,
00:17:35.440 they did not even let us know there was a hearing.
00:17:40.100 We weren't there.
00:17:41.560 And we still don't know who the complaint was,
00:17:43.700 but we know this,
00:17:45.220 that we have been fined $5,500,
00:17:49.320 and that can only go up.
00:17:54.460 In fact, the fines permissible against companies
00:17:58.040 are up to $100,000.
00:18:03.420 And the reason for this fine
00:18:05.420 is because we expressed the view
00:18:07.700 that Rachel Notley and her team
00:18:09.520 must be fired.
00:18:11.520 And we expressed it in various formats and formulas,
00:18:15.380 radio ads, billboards, books,
00:18:19.920 website, emails, videos.
00:18:23.320 And so they've declared us not to be journalists,
00:18:25.420 but rather a political campaign organization
00:18:28.080 akin to a political party.
00:18:30.380 And they're coming to shut us down.
00:18:31.960 Joining us down to talk about this
00:18:32.980 is our friend Sheila Gunn-Reed.
00:18:35.160 Hey, Ezra, thanks for having me.
00:18:36.500 Well, Sheila, you are really a key reason
00:18:40.660 they want to shut us down.
00:18:43.500 You've been the most effective critic
00:18:44.940 of Rachel Notley through your journalism.
00:18:47.540 You have exposed 100 stories
00:18:50.580 about the NDP that the mainstream media
00:18:53.180 has not, would not, could not, whatever.
00:18:56.540 They tried to stop you in rougher ways.
00:18:59.920 I mean, here's just a quick reminder
00:19:00.960 for our people when they dispatched a sheriff
00:19:03.620 with a gun to stop you.
00:19:04.980 Let's play that for a second.
00:19:06.500 We already spoke to Darcy Henton.
00:19:15.160 He said there should be no problem coming.
00:19:18.660 Sorry, what is that?
00:19:21.140 Sorry, what?
00:19:22.940 That was illegal, of course.
00:19:25.260 Just one more reminder.
00:19:26.800 I'm sorry to bring you these memories
00:19:28.100 which may be unhappy, Sheila,
00:19:29.880 but that was followed up by this bizarre letter
00:19:32.580 we got from Alberta Justice.
00:19:34.660 Let's put that on the screen for a second.
00:19:36.060 I'll read it to you.
00:19:36.800 It says, and this was written to our lawyer,
00:19:40.220 our client's, that's referring to Rachel Notley,
00:19:43.200 our client's position remains
00:19:44.740 that your client, the rebel,
00:19:47.440 and those who identify as being connected
00:19:50.020 to your client are not journalists
00:19:52.920 and are not entitled to access media lockups
00:19:56.020 or other such events.
00:19:56.980 Thank you for writing.
00:19:57.980 So they actually sent us a letter saying we were banned
00:20:02.580 from public property, public events
00:20:04.600 because in their opinion, Rachel Notley
00:20:07.280 and her team says we're not journalists
00:20:09.140 and so we're banned.
00:20:10.740 Now that was illegal as well
00:20:12.280 and that was laughed off too.
00:20:13.740 But I guess this is take three, Sheila,
00:20:16.420 and they're serious this time.
00:20:18.060 Well, it might even be take four.
00:20:21.680 If you go back to November, I believe, of 2017,
00:20:25.540 the NDP sort of tipped their hand
00:20:27.840 about what they would be doing to us
00:20:29.580 in the coming year
00:20:30.720 or in the lead up to the next election.
00:20:32.880 I think that's when we got our first letter
00:20:34.560 from Elections Alberta
00:20:36.500 saying that they had gotten a complaint,
00:20:38.960 although they didn't give us any details
00:20:40.320 about what that complaint was,
00:20:42.300 that we were in violation of elections law.
00:20:45.040 Of course, we had our lawyer send them a letter back
00:20:47.620 and we never heard from them again until now.
00:20:50.440 I think it just speaks to how running scared the NDPR,
00:20:54.980 the fact that they're attacking us.
00:20:56.720 They've attacked the Taxpayers Federation,
00:21:00.140 Prem Sings, Alberta Can't Wait and pro-life groups.
00:21:03.260 You don't see any unions on that list.
00:21:05.740 You don't see Progress Alberta or Press Progress
00:21:08.680 who do much of the same sort of thing that we do
00:21:11.820 with regard to opinion journalism and activism.
00:21:15.040 They are not being fined here.
00:21:17.400 It is just conservative groups
00:21:19.000 and mainly us as their most effective opposition.
00:21:22.260 Yeah, I mean, I have been a battler
00:21:26.860 in the court of public opinion for 20 years.
00:21:30.500 You have been active really with a megaphone
00:21:33.920 for the last three and a half years.
00:21:35.520 So your focus has been on Rachel Notley.
00:21:38.180 You're our Alberta bureau chief.
00:21:40.020 You've been on that fight.
00:21:41.060 You wrote the book, The Destroyers, which they hated.
00:21:43.800 That went to number one on Amazon.ca, national bestseller.
00:21:47.680 You wrote the book on David Suzuki.
00:21:50.020 And now you have an ally in Southern Alberta,
00:21:53.360 Kian Bexty, who checks in with you and works with you.
00:21:56.980 So you are, I think, their most proximate enemy.
00:22:02.240 They don't like me, but I'm sort of geographically
00:22:05.080 out of mind, out of sight.
00:22:06.080 They, they, you, Sheila, and I think you're so likable.
00:22:09.720 I mean, you know, I'm a, I'm a super fan of yours,
00:22:11.860 but you, you, your heart is in Alberta.
00:22:14.120 You got, you got bona fides in the oil patch.
00:22:17.160 You got bona fides in agriculture.
00:22:19.060 And you are loved by the grassroots.
00:22:21.940 I see it when I'm, when I'm out there in Alberta.
00:22:24.860 Rachel Notley and her people are despised by Albertans. 1.00
00:22:27.880 That's why they see you.
00:22:29.000 I mean, they think we're a threat,
00:22:30.240 but they, I think they're really coming for you, Sheila.
00:22:31.980 I just think that's, that's really what it is.
00:22:34.980 Well, thank you for your kind words to start with.
00:22:38.460 But, you know, I think you might be right.
00:22:40.300 And I think this time they are using the deep pockets
00:22:45.220 of the bureaucracy and their new elections commissioner bureaucracy
00:22:50.140 to sort of jerry-rig these rules against us.
00:22:55.040 We really have three options here.
00:22:57.100 We can just sort of comply with what Rachel Notley says
00:23:01.760 is the law and shut up. 1.00
00:23:03.360 We can keep doing what we're doing
00:23:04.760 and keep getting these fines levied against us
00:23:07.880 till we ultimately go broke and go out of business.
00:23:10.760 I think that's what the NDP is expecting us to do.
00:23:13.920 But we do have one more option,
00:23:15.520 and that is to keep doing what we're doing and fight back.
00:23:19.060 And, you know, the government has really misjudged us
00:23:22.460 if they thought that we weren't going to fight back.
00:23:25.020 Every time they come at us, we fight back and we win.
00:23:29.560 Even when they try to stack the whole process against us,
00:23:36.080 just like they did when they banned me from the legislature
00:23:38.880 and sent that letter saying that none of us were actually journalists,
00:23:42.420 they had that panel or that investigation
00:23:45.320 that they convened with a former journalist named Heather Boyd.
00:23:49.800 They basically interviewed all of our enemies
00:23:52.060 to see if they could get them to say that we weren't journalists.
00:23:55.580 But in the end, they just can't get around the Constitution.
00:23:59.100 So Rachel Notley wants a fight. She's got it. 1.00
00:24:01.940 Yeah. Now, I want to point out one thing.
00:24:03.780 I mean, I don't want to litigate this in the media.
00:24:08.540 We've got a really great lawyer, Fred Kozak.
00:24:12.020 And I don't say he's just a great lawyer because he's our lawyer.
00:24:14.980 He is so well regarded in the legal community.
00:24:18.860 He is so eminently reasonable.
00:24:21.600 Frankly, I think we're lucky to have him as a lawyer.
00:24:23.480 He has very fancy clients, Globe and Mail, Edmonton Journal, CBC even.
00:24:30.200 So I'm actually grateful to him for taking our case.
00:24:34.040 When he says we've got a case,
00:24:35.760 and I don't want to get into any legal advice he's given us,
00:24:38.560 that gives me confidence.
00:24:40.080 And he's going to fight like hell.
00:24:42.720 Today, we serve them notice.
00:24:44.040 Let's put this letter up on the screen.
00:24:46.020 Today, this letter went out from Fred Kozak, our lawyer in Alberta,
00:24:49.660 to the government of Alberta saying that we intend to appeal both the conviction and the fine of $5,500.
00:25:02.980 So we're not going to mess around.
00:25:04.840 I should tell you, Sheila, that Fred, a very reasonable fellow, reached out.
00:25:09.820 When we first got that threat letter over Christmas, Fred immediately wrote back and said,
00:25:15.000 all right, can you show us the complaint?
00:25:17.240 What exactly are the details?
00:25:19.080 Who complained?
00:25:20.060 What did they complain about?
00:25:21.360 By the way, you know we're journalists covered by the journalist exemption.
00:25:24.660 And he had a back and forth with these hunter killers of Rachel Notley's office,
00:25:28.900 and they pretended to be reasonable.
00:25:31.420 For example, and I'm just going to tell you this,
00:25:33.600 and I've made a larger video on this at the website StandWithTheRebel.com,
00:25:38.440 but Fred said, all right, can you give us, if you want us to answer the case against us,
00:25:43.480 can you give us a copy of the complaint?
00:25:45.420 Duh, how can we possibly answer?
00:25:47.340 And they wrote back saying, sure, we'll get back to you on January 15th.
00:25:52.900 So we said, okay, on January 15th, we'll have to see what the charge is against us.
00:25:56.680 They convicted us, Sheila, on January 14th.
00:26:01.060 So they said, okay, we'll give you, not really disclosure,
00:26:04.940 but we'll show you the complaint against you, we'll show you the case against you,
00:26:07.640 so you can reply.
00:26:08.820 We'll talk to you on the 15th.
00:26:10.320 And we all said, okay, fine.
00:26:12.060 And Fred Kozak said, fine.
00:26:13.800 And then they went ahead and convicted us on the 14th.
00:26:15.940 We didn't even know that we were on trial then.
00:26:18.700 We didn't even know the complaint.
00:26:19.440 We still don't know the complaint against us.
00:26:21.420 We didn't have a chance.
00:26:22.260 Like, that's insane.
00:26:24.260 That's against the law, by the way.
00:26:25.640 The law specifically says that we have the right to reply before any conviction.
00:26:31.060 Yeah, you know, as I was thinking of this,
00:26:34.620 I found it very reminiscent of the Accurate News and Information Act
00:26:40.580 brought in by Bible Bill Eberhardt back in the 30s.
00:26:45.340 Back then, if journalists didn't print what the government wanted,
00:26:50.080 then they had to print a rebuttal on behalf of the government
00:26:54.700 if something the journalist printed was found to be inaccurate by the legislature.
00:27:00.220 And if journalists didn't comply, they were levied fines by a panel without trial,
00:27:08.100 without any sort of involvement in the process of thousands of dollars.
00:27:12.880 That's what we're seeing right now.
00:27:14.560 We're doing things that are not approved by Rachel Notley's government,
00:27:17.540 and they're levying fines against us without our participation in the process.
00:27:23.000 And I think it is very, very interesting in the coming days and weeks to see who stands with us here.
00:27:30.060 We know that back then, the Edmonton Journal actually was honoured by the Pulitzer Committee
00:27:36.200 for their work to overturn that law.
00:27:38.940 And in the interest of freedom of speech, they were actually one of the only journalistic organizations
00:27:44.400 outside of the United States at the time to receive that honour.
00:27:50.000 And Alberta's newest senator is Paula Simons.
00:27:54.200 She is a former Edmonton Journal journalist.
00:27:57.760 Let's see how independent she really is from that Liberal caucus.
00:28:02.040 We'll see whose side she stands on here soon enough. 0.98
00:28:05.720 You know, that is a great point.
00:28:06.800 And of course, a $5,500 fine, while a pain in the neck, that's not going to destroy the rebel.
00:28:12.680 But the law specifically provides for $100,000 fines,
00:28:18.420 and it even gives unlimited powers to apply for injunctions.
00:28:22.040 That could possibly be to shut down our website, for example.
00:28:25.640 I mean, an injunction could be anything.
00:28:28.720 So you're so right.
00:28:30.180 I mean, we know that our competitors don't like us because we're competitors.
00:28:34.040 We eat their lunch.
00:28:34.760 We're not taking government cash like they all are.
00:28:38.300 But it'll be interesting to see if they can separate their personal distaste for our politics and our personalities
00:28:43.860 from what Rachel Notley is doing here.
00:28:46.220 Even if they don't like our coverage of Notley or David Eggen or whatever,
00:28:51.760 how do they feel about the government fining media companies without even inviting them to the trial?
00:28:58.460 And by the way, one of the investigators, Sheila, who's investigating us,
00:29:02.680 used to work for the Human Rights Commission, the same folks who took me to issue for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed.
00:29:11.540 So it's no surprise that they're cutting legal corners.
00:29:16.340 We have to fight back.
00:29:17.720 Like, the idea of paying this fine is unthinkable to me, not because it's $5,500.
00:29:22.240 I can assure you we're going to spend a lot more than $5,500 on this law firm.
00:29:26.480 It's that I cannot give money to the government because we did a video or a billboard or a book or whatever.
00:29:34.020 There's just no way we're going to pay a $5,500 charge for having an opinion and expressing it lawfully in a free country.
00:29:42.060 And there's just no bloody way, even if we were wrong, which we're not,
00:29:46.980 that we would allow this kangaroo court to convict us without us even being there.
00:29:51.360 When they told our lawyer, they would give us the information and they lied.
00:29:54.860 There's just no way.
00:29:56.460 I mean, I don't want to wrap up the rebel.
00:29:59.200 I don't want it to be torpedoed with a $100,000 fine.
00:30:01.760 I don't want it to be shut down.
00:30:03.300 But neither would I ever run the rebel that was submissive to Rachel Notley, Justin Trudeau, or any other politician.
00:30:10.600 I think Rachel Notley is about to make an international embarrassment of herself yet again. 1.00
00:30:16.920 She ended up in making international headlines when she threw me out of the legislature. 0.99
00:30:22.680 She ended up making international headlines when she sent a legal letter saying that her opinion was that I'm not a journalist
00:30:29.420 and that that should be the law of the land now.
00:30:32.500 And she's about to make an international idiot of herself when she says that journalists are in contravention of the law 0.78
00:30:41.680 when they do things that are critical of the government.
00:30:44.340 That is what this comes down to.
00:30:45.920 And this just isn't a fight about us.
00:30:48.400 Sure, we're the target.
00:30:50.020 But this is really a fight about not and not just our friends on the right.
00:30:55.000 So not just the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, not just our friends at Alberta Can't Wait.
00:31:00.840 This isn't even a fight to allow pro-life groups to speak their mind about the government censoring them.
00:31:08.440 This is a fight to separate journalists from being under the thumb of the government.
00:31:16.060 Some journalists, of course, they like that because everything they write is really an audition
00:31:19.980 for a job with Rachel Notley's government.
00:31:22.860 But we have to do this to maintain our journalistic independence.
00:31:27.920 And this is a fight that we have to fight and win.
00:31:30.400 Yeah.
00:31:30.780 Well, I want to say to our viewers, and anyone who's watching this obviously is a subscriber
00:31:35.900 to our $8 a month premium content, and I thank you for that support.
00:31:42.240 We can survive a $5,500 hit, but we're not going to pay that.
00:31:46.400 So I'm choosing not to take the easy way out.
00:31:48.840 I'm choosing to take probably a $30,000 legal appeal.
00:31:53.920 And what I don't want to have happen, but might well happen, is that we get fined $100,000.
00:32:01.700 That's what the law permits.
00:32:03.240 And maybe another $100,000 for the next time we do it.
00:32:06.320 And I have to say that if we don't win this legal fight, we will be out of business.
00:32:11.660 I could not come up with $100,000 to pay a fine.
00:32:14.960 We just don't have it.
00:32:15.940 I would rather fight and die than not fight, though.
00:32:21.520 And this is live free or die.
00:32:23.280 Those are really the only two paths here, Sheila, because I'm not going to pay the submission tax.
00:32:28.980 I'm not going to pay the $5,500.
00:32:30.460 I just can't do that.
00:32:31.860 I won't sign the check.
00:32:32.980 My hand won't do it.
00:32:33.820 So we're either going to fight and win or we're going to fight and die.
00:32:38.500 And for folks who believe that this is a fight worth fighting, they can go to StandWithTheRebel.com.
00:32:44.580 Last word to you, my friend, because you are the pointy edge of the spear out there.
00:32:48.880 I suppose I am.
00:32:50.220 This really is a fight for my ability to be honest with our viewers, too.
00:32:56.920 I will not have my opinions censored by the government.
00:33:01.860 You pay me for my honest opinion, and I give it every single day about Rachel Notley or Justin Trudeau or the culture war.
00:33:11.980 And if we don't win this fight, there's really not a role for someone like me in Alberta media.
00:33:18.320 So if our viewers want to see us going, we really need their support here.
00:33:23.020 Yeah.
00:33:23.400 Well, the website where we have both their letter announcing that we were convicted at a trial we weren't even invited to.
00:33:30.200 I mean, that's as bad as the Human Rights Commission.
00:33:33.000 And our lawyer's response today saying we're going to appeal.
00:33:36.820 People can find both of those legal documents at StandWithTheRebel.com, as well as more facts on this and a special 10-minute video I made going through the history of it.
00:33:46.860 Sheila, thanks for fighting.
00:33:47.720 I have to say, and I said this in the video, that this decision that I am making, and it's me alone, I've had the advice of our lawyers, and they said, and I won't give away legal confidences, but this, to choose to fight is to choose risk.
00:34:04.380 The zero risk way out of that is to pay the $5,500 and submit.
00:34:08.900 There's no risk if you do that.
00:34:10.560 And we're going to turn four years old on February 15th.
00:34:13.640 That's going to be the fourth year birthday of The Rebel.
00:34:17.860 And I want to live to see that day and many other birthdays also.
00:34:22.980 But I also know that by choosing to fight, we are risking the entire operation.
00:34:27.780 We are risking every penny we have and every penny we don't have.
00:34:32.320 We are risking injunctions.
00:34:33.960 We are risking everything.
00:34:37.540 And that's what it's come down to.
00:34:39.000 This is the fight.
00:34:40.060 They chose it, not us.
00:34:41.580 But we will meet it.
00:34:42.880 And what can I say?
00:34:44.000 I hope we live on, Sheila.
00:34:45.240 If we don't, I want to let you know that meeting you and getting to work with you and supporting your own journalism has been one of the proudest things that we've done here at The Rebel.
00:34:55.660 And something I'll always look back on as a great achievement, even if The Rebel is to be killed over this battle, your role in our company has been one of the favorite things for me.
00:35:08.400 Oh, thanks, boss.
00:35:09.460 But you know what?
00:35:09.980 They don't call us The Rebel for nothing.
00:35:11.580 So these fights are made for us.
00:35:14.720 And Rachel Notley has a track record of losing to me and to you. 0.94
00:35:19.260 So here's to that.
00:35:20.900 Yeah.
00:35:21.520 All right.
00:35:21.920 If folks want to chip in, and I hope you will because we've got to pay the lawyers, please go to StandWithTheRebel.com.
00:35:28.420 All right.
00:35:28.820 Stay with us.
00:35:29.860 Your letters to me next.
00:35:41.580 Hey, welcome back.
00:35:43.880 On my monologue yesterday about Vancouver's city council declaring a climate emergency, Ian writes,
00:35:48.980 The only climate emergency in Vancouver and in Canada is the political climate.
00:35:54.880 There's some truth to that.
00:35:55.860 I mean, you can't say certain things in this country, can you?
00:35:57.740 I just think if someone says it's an emergency and they're not acting like it, you shouldn't believe them.
00:36:03.220 If someone is in the house saying, fire, there's a fire, fire, I'm just going to go have a nap now, fire.
00:36:10.940 You don't believe there's a fire because if there's really a fire, you're running out of the house.
00:36:14.400 You know, you're getting the pets, you're getting your keys, wallet, and phone, and you're going.
00:36:18.080 If these folks are saying, climate emergency, we're all going to be flooded, but they're living right on the waterfront like David Suzuki, it's not an emergency.
00:36:29.520 Ron writes, I thought things would improve at Vancouver's local government once the nuttiest mayor in their history, Gregor Robertson resigned.
00:36:35.760 Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, there is an almost unlimited supply of nutty mayors in Vancouver, each one nuttier than the next.
00:36:42.800 Hey, Jay writes, why do we never hear about a raw sewage emergency from those hypocrites?
00:36:48.880 Hey, that's a great point.
00:36:49.840 That really would be an emergency.
00:36:51.400 And I know that sounds super gross, and I really don't like talking about raw sewage.
00:36:55.160 I'm sorry I'm even saying that word.
00:36:57.200 But as you know, 100 municipalities in Quebec every year dump, oh, I can't even say it without gagging, hundreds of billions, or billions rather, of liters of raw sewage in their rivers.
00:37:09.240 I'm just thinking of that.
00:37:10.020 I shouldn't think about that.
00:37:11.060 That's so gross.
00:37:13.200 And Victoria, the most eco-woke city in Canada, I put it to you, where Elizabeth May, the head of the Green Party, she's the member of Parliament from just north of Victoria, if I know my math better.
00:37:28.300 She's from Salt Spring Island or whatever.
00:37:31.260 Just like the hippiest place in Canada.
00:37:34.940 They pour their sewage untreated right into the sea.
00:37:38.320 So that, in my mind, is an emergency.
00:37:41.040 Like, if you want to go swimming, fishing, or, I don't know, and drink seawater, but you go fishing and you go swimming, and that's an emergency.
00:37:46.680 If there's, like, untreated poop in the water, that's an emergency.
00:37:49.680 It's weird how Quebec and Victoria are allowed to get away with that, but pristine, high-tech pipelines aren't.
00:38:01.720 Oh, well.
00:38:02.080 Folks, may I encourage you to see my longer treatment of the Alberta charges against us at StandWithTheRebel.com.
00:38:10.980 If it was just $5,500, you know, I would hate paying that, but I'd pay it.
00:38:15.260 But it's not about that.
00:38:16.280 It's about submitting to their determination that we're not journalists, that we're some campaign organization, and they can tell us what we can say and in what medium and what mode, and that they don't have to give us due process.
00:38:25.460 I find it bizarre that they have contracted, like, a special contract with a former Human Rights Commission officer.
00:38:32.640 To me, that's really, really weird, and I don't believe in coincidences anymore when it happens like that.
00:38:38.640 I've chosen to fight.
00:38:39.600 But maybe you think that's reckless.
00:38:42.520 Obviously, Alberta can't wait. 1.00
00:38:43.920 The Taxpayers Federation and the pro-life group have complied and are paying their fine.
00:38:48.100 I just don't think I'm built that way.
00:38:49.800 I'm 46 years old.
00:38:51.420 I'm not going to bend now.
00:38:53.760 If I haven't bent in 46 years, I'm not going to bend now.
00:38:56.900 I'm not going to bend.
00:38:57.600 I'm going to break.
00:38:58.520 Either I break or I win.
00:39:00.180 How can I?
00:39:01.080 I mean, come on.
00:39:01.820 I fought the Human Rights Commission on the Danish cartoons matter for 900 days.
00:39:06.280 If I didn't give in to Islamic extremists and that censorship then, how could I possibly give in to Rachel Notley? 0.76
00:39:14.140 I mean, am I made of any stuff?
00:39:16.020 Do I have any shoulders?
00:39:17.720 And the answer is, I'll die trying.
00:39:20.660 Maybe you can help me win so I don't have to die, because I'd prefer to continue.
00:39:24.500 And if you want to help, go to StandWithTheRebel.com.
00:39:26.720 But for now, let's just enjoy the weekend.
00:39:28.520 Keep watching our videos.
00:39:29.380 There's a lot of interesting stuff on The Rebel these days.
00:39:31.440 A lot of interesting stuff.
00:39:32.480 I hope you click around the rest of our website.
00:39:34.540 Until Monday, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night, and keep fighting for freedom.