During coverage of the Calgary Freedom Rally on Saturday, the Western Standard recorded and live-streamed throughout the day and captured several events and interviews, including a violent takedown of a freedom protester..The weekly rallies have been active in Calgary throughout the pandemic with gatherings and marches taking place on most Saturdays and the occasional Sunday..Protesters gathered at several locations throughout the city, including at city hall and Olympic Plaza, McDougal Centre, Shaw Millenium Park and, most recently, Central Memorial Park in the Beltline followed by a march down 17 Ave. SW, referred to as the “Freedom Mile.”.Before the rally started at 1 p.m., the Western Standard attempted to speak with Beltline community residents gathered at a park next to the Lougheed House on 13 Ave. SW..Although we were able to chat with a few community residents, many of the counter-protesters, clearly not fans of the Western Standard, became increasingly hostile and aggressive towards reporter Melanie Risdon and James Finkbeiner..Counter-protesters followed Risdon and Finkbeiner with heckles and continually attempted to interrupt conversations with residents by pushing their phones and hands in front of the microphone and camera. At one point, one of the counter-protesters pushed Risdon..Requests for help from Risdon to nearby police officers were met with shrugs and silence. Police suggested Risdon leave the park to conduct the discussions with residents and did not offer any other assistance..The Western Standard spoke to several freedom protesters at Central Memorial Park, city hall and near Olympic Plaza to get a sense of why they are continuing to protest and get suggestions to how things can be better organized to respect the wishes of those in the Beltline who are opposed to the Saturday marches..After the rally, freedom protesters walked westbound on 8 Ave. then south on 4 St. back to Central Memorial Park where they were met with residents counter-protesting the rally..After some tense exchanges, police intervened and worked to push the two groups apart, creating a barrier of officers with and without bikes moving freedom protesters east through the park..At one point, freedom protester Devlin Gannon, in an exchange with police, was violently apprehended by officers where he was restrained, pulled to the ground and tasered. Gannon was arrested and charged with assaulting an officer, although video footage shows he was restrained at the time and another person’s foot actually tripped the officer..At another point while Risdon was doing a live segment covering the unfolding events, the mountain bike police unit pushed the Western Standard reporter into another officer mounted on a horse who proceeded to kick Risdon in yet another direction..Eventually, after both sides had been separated, counter-protesters decided to leave the park and walked westbound on 13 Ave. back towards Lougheed Park.
