Rebel News suing over Jan. 8 exchange with Freeland in Richmond Hill
No statement of defence has yet been filed
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Published Mar 06, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 1 minute read
Rebel News filed a $1-million lawsuit after one of its reporters was handcuffed while attempting to question Canada's Finance Minister.
David Menzies, a reporter with Rebel News, walked up to Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland, centre, on Jan. 8, 2024 to ask her questions in Richmond Hill.
Rebel News has filed a $1-million lawsuit after one of its reporters was handcuffed while attempting to question Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, reports Blacklock’s Reporter.
Authorities claimed the questions on Jan. 8 in Richmond Hill were too “aggressive,” Rebel News’ lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, wrote in a statement of claim filed with Ontario Superior Court.
“The questions spoke to the federal government’s foreign affairs and foreign policy,” said the filing.
“These questions were relevant and valid questions which were asked within journalistic principles. Minister Freeland as a public official was attending a public event in her capacity as a public servant.”
Greenspon filed the claim for just over $1 million in damages for false arrest, abuse of process and other allegations against the RCMP, York Regional Police and the Department of Justice, representing Freeland.
No statement of defence has yet been filed.
In the incident, Freeland was walking to a public appearance when Rebel News reporter David Menzies, who was accompanied by photographer Lincoln Jay, asked Freeland two questions about cabinet’s refusal to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization in Canada.
Freeland just kept walking as plainclothes Mounties grabbed the reporter and accused him of criminal assault.
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The lawsuit claimed police told the reporter his questions were “very aggressive,” and he was “running in with his microphone very aggressively.”
The statement of claim said while police were quoted as saying Menzies was “almost pushing everyone over,” Rebel video allegedly shows it was a plainclothes police offer who sprinted over, pushed the reporter to provoke a confrontation and then claimed assault.
The claim contended the reporter and photographer were held in a police van without charges before being driven two blocks to an empty parking lot and given a trespass warning.
Rebel News filed a $1-million lawsuit after one of its reporters was handcuffed while attempting to question Canada's Finance Minister.
torontosun.com