David Menzies, a reporter for Canada’s conservative Rebel News Network, was arrested Monday for asking Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland a question after a police officer accused him of assault in what appears to be a fabricated charge.
Video of the event, posted by Rebel News chief Ezra Levant, went viral on Monday. It shows Menzies asking Freeland about Canada’s refusal to label Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC) as a terrorist organization — an ordinary question.
As Menzies walks down a public sidewalk, keeping pace with the Deputy Prime Minister, a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stands in his way — then begins executing an arrest, claiming that Menzies “assaulted” him.
BREAKING: Rebel News reporter David Menzies (@TheMenzoid) was brutally arrested by police after he tried to ask Chrystia Freeland questions.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) January 8, 2024
Visit Rebel News for more on this story: https://t.co/J42ReU1MjY pic.twitter.com/5vgNotnjyy
Menzies barely appears to notice the RCMP officer because his attention is on Freeland. The officer appears to set a “pick,” basketball-style, as a pretext for accusing Menzies of assaulting him when there is no evident sign of any intent to do so.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is known to hate Rebel News, which is one of the only conservative outlets in Canada. In 2021, Trudeau’s security detail roughed up Menzies as he stood on a public sidewalk, hoping to interview Trudeau at an event.
Levant confirmed to Breitbart News that Rebel News intends to sue the RCMP on Tuesday for “False arrest, false imprisonment, [and] assault.”
Civil liberties have suffered a decline in Canada under Trudeau, notably during the coronavirus pandemic.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
