WARMINGTON: Two sides to traffic stop of TV host Marci Ien

WARMINGTON: Two sides to traffic stop of TV host Marci Ien
Joe Warmington
More from Joe Warmington
Published:
March 2, 2018
Updated:
March 2, 2018 7:19 AM EST
CTV's Marci Ien
Toronto Police are pushing back at TV host Marci Ien’s “driving while black” claim and have challenged her to lay an official complaint.
Chief Mark Saunders has even offered to view the squad car tape and audio with her.
That tape, according to Staff-Supt. Mario Di Tommaso — Toronto Police’s fifth in command — shows a routine traffic stop, not an act of racism or profiling.
“I have viewed the video footage of your vehicle stop,” tweeted Di Tommaso. “You were stopped because of your driving behaviour. You failed to stop at a stop sign. It was dark. Your race was not visible on the video and only became apparent when you stepped out of the vehicle in your driveway.”
However, in a column in the Globe and Mail — with the headline “The double standard of driving while black – in Canada,” — award-winning Ien, a host on CTV’s The Social and former co-host of Canada AM, wrote “for the third time in eight months, I was being questioned by a police officer — and I had broken no law.” She added “that I co-host a national television show didn’t matter. That I have lived in the neighbourhood for 13 years didn’t matter. But being black mattered.”
Ien described pulling “into my driveway” where a “police cruiser was parked behind me — lights flashing.”
She wrote that after being told to “get back in your vehicle,” he said “you failed to stop at a stop sign back there. That’s dangerous, there’s a school there … lots of kids,” but decided “I’m going to give you a warning. Be careful driving out there.” But “upset,” Ien said all three stops “the initial questions had been the same: ‘Do you live around here? Is this your vehicle?’ In every case, I wasn’t issued a ticket.”
Ien, who does not identify the race of the officer, said while Canada is diverse, “racism permeates every aspect of our society.”
Toronto police refute racism charges.
Deputy Chief Shawna Coxon on Twitter wrote “we are accountable. The whole event (incl. the traffic infraction) is on camera. The ethnicity of the driver is not visible until after she was pulled over, when she exits the car. The Chief invited her last night on @CP24 to come in & view the video.”
Ien has not responded to Toronto Police tweets but told me she has “talked a lot over the last couple of days” with the CBC’s Dwight Drummond, who in 1995, was famously pulled over in a high-risk takedown by Toronto Police on Dundas St. E., after an early morning snack purchase at George’s BBQ. Drummond became one of Canada’s top crime reporters and news anchors and is highly respected by police officers.
The police and Drummond found a way to put it behind them and hopefully that will happen here, too.
While Marci may be my favourite person on Canadian TV, if I call it straight, what she describes is not racism but a cop cutting her a break. Marci’s entitled to have her own perception, but for suggestions of racial profiling and racism, there needs to be solid evidence. Remember, police officers are entitled to their safety perceptions when approaching vehicles, too.
“She made some very serious comments and I would invite her to lay a complaint to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD),” said TPS spokesman Mark Pugash, who added the service “stands behind” the tweets by Di Tommaso and Coxon.
Marci told me she has not formally complained. This is a tough situation for a lot of reasons — not withstanding Marci Ien is a terrific professional, mother of two, and a national treasure. Her concerns should not be discounted but need to be verified.
Like with the Hijab Hoax, racism allegations must be fully vetted. An investigation could happen, but Ien, Saunders and the officer involved hugging it out — with lessons learned — would be my preference.
People react and have emotions but accusations of racism against cops should be backed up with proof.
jwarmington@postmedia.com
http://theglobeandmail.com/opinion/d...rticle38107157
WARMINGTON: Two sides to traffic stop of TV host Marci Ien | Toronto Sun

Sooo she blows a stop sign, gets a warning from the cops who saw her blow the stop sign and she's bitching about racial profiling? Uh, yeah.

As for this, If she thinks these questions only get asked of Black people when they get pulled over, then she's the racist.

Is she yelling Racist because the officer didn't recognize her as a celebrity, or that they threw their lights on in front of her house and embarrassing her

She likely didn't realize (or forgot) that cops now have the technology and the ability to tape their stops - to protect themselves from morons like her from screaming racism.

That's a good thing. Is this an example of the pendulum swinging too far the other way?

It's easy for a visible minority to stand in front of a camera and claim that they were picked on. These days, whites are always wrong and picking on minorities. Having cameras recording traffic events and stops levels the field.

Hopefully, the next phase will be lawsuits brought against people falsely accusing police or other officials of being racist.

Nope, the next phase will be to treat those cameras like they treated criminal profiling. As soon as the camera footage start to show a "disfavourable" proportion of idiots falsely claiming racism, the neo-liberal progtards will find some way to declare the usage of police cameras as racist.

Yes MURPHY, all allegations should be dealt with that way

like certain OTHER people suggested on all your threads about the Brown case eh?

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Here is an article describing the dangerous antics of Antifa thugs! With some comments of my own in brackets):

Antifa thugs attacking journalists is nothing new

By Lorrie Goldstein. Published: August 14, 2018. Updated: August 14, 2018 7:30 PM EDT

Filed Under: Toronto SUN/ Opinion/ Columnists

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A protester attacks Toronto Sun photographer Stan Behal at a rally Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018 at Nathan Phillips Square.

The unprovoked assault on my Toronto Sun colleague, photographer Stan Behal, at an “anti-fascist” rally on Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday is nothing new for so-called “Antifa” thugs.

A day after the attack on Behal by a lone thug, the Washington Post reported on similar attacks on U.S. media at a Sunday, Washington, D.C. Antifa rally.

In both cities, Antifa, who ostensibly came to battle with neo-Nazis, white supremacists and white nationalists, turned on the media when their intended targets didn’t show up.

As the Post headlined its story, “Antifa protesters couldn’t find any fascists at Unite the Right — and harassed the press instead.”

(I suggest that Antifa views many reporters as right wing supporters! Older Cdns who have read of the political machinations of Nazis during their rise to power will recognize the Antifa tactics! Nazi Brown Shirt thugs had two jobs- first- to beat the crap out of any anti Hitler heckler that showed up at a Nazi rally! In light of this- the recent shameless behaviour of Our idiot Boy in calling a Quebec woman a “racist” simply for asking an honest question about funding for illegals And then having security drag her away, should be seen as an ominous sign! Cdn democracy is under threat with LIE-berals using dirty tactics to silence critics- after all several provincial govts along with Toronto mayor Tory have ALREADY asked the same question about funding as that woman!)

(LIE-berals want to control and limit our free speech using LIE-beral friendly media, private security to shut down hecklers and legal threats of arrest for LIE-beral defined hate crimes that will be judged by LIE-beral judges in Human Righrs Kangaroo Courts where the normal rules of evidence- including standard limits on search and seizure of private property DO NOT APPLY! The way LIE-berals are moving- it is to be expected they will soon start party meetings by shouting Sieg Heil at Our idiot Boy!)

(Secondly, Nazi Brown Shirts were employed to break up meetings and rallies of opposing political parties! Our LIE-berals are not yet nearly so bold- but they seem quite happy to allow Antifa to do Brown Shirt dirty work on their behalf! LIE-berals have demonstrated that they DO BELIEVE that media such as Toronto Sun are deliberately provoking Antifa- in the same way that despised Jews and Poles “provoked” tolerant peace loving Nazis and Sun writers and others are seen as provoking LIE-berals as well by taking their editorial stance! Always arrogant LIE-berals figure that if you tease the cat you cannot complain about getting scratched- fair play is a ONE WAY street for them! Just like Nazis)

(Lost in that vile LIE-beral policy is the ugly reality that Antifa are a collection of left wing aspiring dictators who will impose a Soviet style dictatorship on us- one spiced with hideous anti white values! Antifa goals are so vile they will erase our civil rights and destroy our economy- as Lenin and Stalin did to Russia- and then use OUR Money to tell us it is for our good in the best Soviet Pravda propaganda style! Anybody who thought Wynne-bag LIE-berals were insulting us with their press releases promoting our “booming economy” and “balanced budgets” will HATE Antifa style govt- and it will eventually become ILLEGAL to complain- just as anti Soviets went to jail under Stalin!)

(Nobody should be surprised that it is easier for “communication students” at Wilfred Laurier U. to view the Nazi propaganda film “Triumph of the Will”- extolling the life and times of Adolf Hitler- than it is to bring a copy of Toronto Sun to class- or even examine the words of Psychologist Jordan Peterson in class! Our education system has been taken over by anti democratic, anti capitalist and anti white radicals- and they DO NOT want the likes of Peterson and the Sun exposing their creeping political coup!)

In April, 2017, Antifa thugs attacked a Global TV crew covering a clash between left-wing and right-wing extremists in Quebec City, pushing one of them down a flight of stairs and smashing the television camera of another.

(Smashing cameras is a favourite tactic of thugs the world over- no camera means no ability to identify attackers by photos! And of course no camera means no ability to later identify vandals who set fire to cars or smash shop windows etc! All these tactics were pioneered by Nazi and Soviet goons who were NOT WILLING to work within a democratic framework! That Antifa has adopted these vile bullying and intimidating tactics is damning!)

Aside from Global, I was one of the few Canadian journalists who wrote about what had happened.

(Yes- Nazis and Soviets share that love of a tame and friendly news media and Antifa expects the same friendly consideration from reporters with twisted LIE-beral values! Our media has mostly given up trying to report the news and is now trying to MANUFACTURE NEWS based on what will please LIE-berals and radicals! News media is profit driven and it must tell stories that people like- and conventional news media has apparently identified LIE-berals, civil service union Hogs and assorted Antifa style radicals as big consumers of their media product!)

(Media need for sales and viewers without real regard for truth is now poisoning our democracy! And it does not help that the editorial slant at most media is so left wing that ONLY reporters in favour with LIE-berals and Antifa are acceptable at many media outlets- so No dissenting voices are allowed! In recent news the NDP govt of Alberta refused to recognize the credentials of reporters from Rebel Media -the online news outlet run by Ezra Levant! Levant is well known to many Cdns for his many years in Cdn news- and he is HATED by LIE-berals and their less intelligent NDP cousins- yet NDP sees nothing wrong with refusing to admit Rebel Media reporters to govt press conferences! Yhe messages issued from on high are only for the ears of the truly committed and blindly loyal!)

The reason for the lack of media coverage at the time was that it didn’t fit the then popular media narrative that it was only right-wing extremists who were violent, in the wake of the Charlottesville, Va., tragedy, where an innocent demonstrator was killed when she was run over by a car driven by a white supremacist supporter.

(LIE-beral philosophy dictates that left wing violence maybe excused because Antifa has “suffered socially” in some un-defined fashion! LIE-beral values are so twisted they think it is okay for Antifa to be angry while the rest of us should shut up and sit down and quit complaining about how LIE-berals and Antifa are re-arranging the world to suit THEM! But then western media has a LONG HISTORY of excusing socialist crimes!)

Canadian media were so enamoured by the so-called anti-fascists in the wake of that incident, that some disgracefully compared them to Allied soldiers fighting the Nazis during the Second World War.

To be clear, these are not the majority of peaceful demonstrators who come to these protests sincerely opposed to fascism and racism.

What we’re talking about is a smaller group of violent, uneducated losers, cowards who often attack in packs and who are typically incoherent when it comes to explaining what it is they want.

(Oh- that is not entirely true- what IS CLEAR that Antifa wants their own way- at ANY PRICE!)

To give you a general idea about what these protesters are like, a study released last year by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of 873 protesters arrested during political demonstrations from 2003 to 2013, found 85% identified with left-wing causes, 92% lived at home with their parents and a third were unemployed.

(Lost in those numbers is the ugly reality that LIE-beral pllicy si so bad that it is beggaring a generation of kids! When the economic troubles of the PIGS -Portugal/ Ireland/ Greece and Spain became news- LIE-beral friendly media such as Toronto Red Star produced articles deploring the plight of unemployed kids who had such university education credentials as Chemical Engineer and other such skilled and- one would think- practical professions- yet there the kids were- a decade after graduation- still wondering if they could EVER find a job! Andn ow that Cdn kids are being loaded into the same economically sinking boat- Star reporters are defending LIE-beral policies and bigotry that are ruining us- with NOTHING said about the PIGS kids! Hypocrisy is the order of the day!)

What was particularly disturbing about the unprovoked attack on Behal in Toronto is that it occurred right in front of police officers, who refused Behal’s request that the individual who had assaulted him be arrested, although police are now investigating after the fact.

(Cops do what govt tells them to- and they are under order not to “provoke” the radicals! As previously stated apparently LIE-berals feel it is the fault of Sun reporters if they get attacked! Talk about blaming the messenger!)

This has become common at these sorts of demonstrations, with police apparently instructed not to arrest anyone unless a major crime is committed in the interests of keeping the peace, a ridiculous policy in this case because the only people protesting were antifa, the right-wing extremists they were ostensibly targeting having never shown up.

In the weeks leading up to the assault on Behal, who thankfully was not seriously hurt, articles in some of Toronto’s left-wing “alternative” media falsely accused several of my Sun colleagues of racism for objecting to federal policies on issues like terrorism and refugees.

They did exactly what they accuse Donald Trump of doing in the U.S., smearing journalists and endangering their safety through incendiary rhetoric.

I don’t know if this was a factor in the attack on Behal, who is a photographer, not a columnist.

I do know these so-called “journalists” who have been playing this dangerous game, are a disgrace to journalism.


(I would go further and suggest that some Cdn journalists are enemies of free speech and democracy! And given the support given to civil service union Hogs- I say that some media are also enemies of capitalism as well!)