Rebel News has taken legal action against the Attorney General of Canada, York Regional Police (YRP), and various RCMP officers for the wrongful arrest of reporter David Menzies. “There was no cause for either the detention or arrest of Mr. Menzies,” said Rebel’s lawyers Lawrence Greenspon and Sarah Miller in a Tuesday court filing. Menzies was arrested by police officers in January after he attempted to ask Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). READ MORE: WATCH: Rebel News' reporter David Menzies arrested after trying to question FreelandWhile Menzies wanted to know why the Canadian government was not standing up to the IRGC, an RCMP officer bumped into him to block him from confronting Freeland. The officer proceeded to grab Menzies and push him up against a wall. “You’re under arrest for assault,” said the officer..Menzies and Rebel allege the defendants engaged in false arrest and imprisonment, abuse of process, assault and battery, negligence and breaches of Section 2b), 7, 9, and 10 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The remedies they seek are general damages of $50,000; damages pursuant to Section 24 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of $500,000; special damages of $10,000; punitive, exemplary and aggravated damages of $500,000; pre- and post-judgment interest; the costs of the lawsuit with applicable taxes; and other relief the judge deems just. On the day of the incident, Menzies and Rebel camera operator Lincoln Jay were intending to cover a memorial event at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts (RHCPA) for the victims killed onboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in 2020. While an RCMP officer was the initial person to restrain Menzies, another one joined in. Other RCMP and YRP officers participated in his detention and arrest. He was placed in the back of a YRP cruiser, where one of the officers read him his rights and cautioned him about making any statements. An officer advised him that he was arrested for assault of a police officer. YRP drove him to an empty parking lot a few blocks from the RHCPA and opted to release him without charges. However, an officer gave him verbal notice under the Trespass to Property Act (TPA), which prohibited his return to the the RHCPA. While he was in the empty parking lot with police, officers advised Jay he was being given verbal notice under the TPA. In response, Jay left it. Greenspon and Miller said Menzies and Jay “were unable to conduct their journalism of the Commemoration Event, or interview people who attended, as they had planned in their roles as journalists for Rebel News due to the wrongful actions of the Defendants.” This is because they were no longer allowed on the property and the arrest had taken place for such a long time that they could not conduct interviews and observe the comings and goings of the event. The RCMP and YRP worked together to assault, detain and arrest Menzies. Greenspon and Miller said the officers’ conduct “amounts to bad faith and a perversion of their roles as police officers.” The RCMP has mistreated Rebel reporters before. For example, Menzies was subjected to an incident in 2020 when attempting to ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about his COVID-19 policies. When he attempted to ask Trudeau questions about his attendance at an event, officers assaulted him. He has commenced litigation against the RCMP over the incident. Greenspon and Miller said the defendants are liable for wrongful detention and arrest. These allegations come from him being detained and arrested without having committed a crime and there being no reasonable or probable grounds for his arrest. They concluded by saying the defendants’ actions were callous, aggressive, and taken without regard to the impact they might have. “The actions of the Defendants as described above are part of a pattern of intimidation and exclusion and therefore entitle the plaintiffs to punitive and/or aggravated damages,” they said. “The actions and/or omissions of the Defendants, as described above, serve to undermine the public’s confidence in police officers and the administration of justice.”Freeland said in January the rule of law was followed when the RCMP arrested Menzies.READ MORE: WATCH: Freeland says RCMP arrest of David Menzies lawful“Operational decisions about law enforcement are taken by the police jurisdiction,” she said. “Quite appropriately, elected officials have no role in the taking of those decisions, and that’s why I don’t have any further comment.”
Rebel News has taken legal action against the Attorney General of Canada, York Regional Police (YRP), and various RCMP officers for the wrongful arrest of reporter David Menzies. “There was no cause for either the detention or arrest of Mr. Menzies,” said Rebel’s lawyers Lawrence Greenspon and Sarah Miller in a Tuesday court filing. Menzies was arrested by police officers in January after he attempted to ask Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). READ MORE: WATCH: Rebel News' reporter David Menzies arrested after trying to question FreelandWhile Menzies wanted to know why the Canadian government was not standing up to the IRGC, an RCMP officer bumped into him to block him from confronting Freeland. The officer proceeded to grab Menzies and push him up against a wall. “You’re under arrest for assault,” said the officer..Menzies and Rebel allege the defendants engaged in false arrest and imprisonment, abuse of process, assault and battery, negligence and breaches of Section 2b), 7, 9, and 10 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The remedies they seek are general damages of $50,000; damages pursuant to Section 24 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms of $500,000; special damages of $10,000; punitive, exemplary and aggravated damages of $500,000; pre- and post-judgment interest; the costs of the lawsuit with applicable taxes; and other relief the judge deems just. On the day of the incident, Menzies and Rebel camera operator Lincoln Jay were intending to cover a memorial event at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts (RHCPA) for the victims killed onboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in 2020. While an RCMP officer was the initial person to restrain Menzies, another one joined in. Other RCMP and YRP officers participated in his detention and arrest. He was placed in the back of a YRP cruiser, where one of the officers read him his rights and cautioned him about making any statements. An officer advised him that he was arrested for assault of a police officer. YRP drove him to an empty parking lot a few blocks from the RHCPA and opted to release him without charges. However, an officer gave him verbal notice under the Trespass to Property Act (TPA), which prohibited his return to the the RHCPA. While he was in the empty parking lot with police, officers advised Jay he was being given verbal notice under the TPA. In response, Jay left it. Greenspon and Miller said Menzies and Jay “were unable to conduct their journalism of the Commemoration Event, or interview people who attended, as they had planned in their roles as journalists for Rebel News due to the wrongful actions of the Defendants.” This is because they were no longer allowed on the property and the arrest had taken place for such a long time that they could not conduct interviews and observe the comings and goings of the event. The RCMP and YRP worked together to assault, detain and arrest Menzies. Greenspon and Miller said the officers’ conduct “amounts to bad faith and a perversion of their roles as police officers.” The RCMP has mistreated Rebel reporters before. For example, Menzies was subjected to an incident in 2020 when attempting to ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about his COVID-19 policies. When he attempted to ask Trudeau questions about his attendance at an event, officers assaulted him. He has commenced litigation against the RCMP over the incident. Greenspon and Miller said the defendants are liable for wrongful detention and arrest. These allegations come from him being detained and arrested without having committed a crime and there being no reasonable or probable grounds for his arrest. They concluded by saying the defendants’ actions were callous, aggressive, and taken without regard to the impact they might have. “The actions of the Defendants as described above are part of a pattern of intimidation and exclusion and therefore entitle the plaintiffs to punitive and/or aggravated damages,” they said. “The actions and/or omissions of the Defendants, as described above, serve to undermine the public’s confidence in police officers and the administration of justice.”Freeland said in January the rule of law was followed when the RCMP arrested Menzies.READ MORE: WATCH: Freeland says RCMP arrest of David Menzies lawful“Operational decisions about law enforcement are taken by the police jurisdiction,” she said. “Quite appropriately, elected officials have no role in the taking of those decisions, and that’s why I don’t have any further comment.”
