Toronto police lay 'unprecedented charge,' say man allegedly held 'terrorist flag' at protest

CBC news ^ | Jan 11, 2024

[jerod]

Police chief Myron Demkiw said man charged with public incitement of hatred during weekend demonstration

A Toronto man has been charged with public incitement of hatred after police allege he held a "terrorist flag" during a demonstration last weekend.

Police say the 41-year-old man allegedly waved a flag of "an organization listed as a terrorist group by Public Safety Canada" while marching through the city's downtown on Sunday.

Speaking at a Toronto Police Services Board meeting, police Chief Myron Demkiw called the charge "unprecedented," noting the "very high threshold" to charge anyone with a hate propaganda offence.

Demkiw has not confirmed what the flag depicted to the board or to the public, saying he would "not be complicit in providing a platform to both acknowledge or promote the hateful ideology."...

[jerod]

While I commend the Toronto police for charging these HAMAS loving protestors... I have reservations when it comes to charging people with 'hate crimes'... It's a bit too Orwellian for me.

Why not just arrest them for being the nuisances that they are.

[Dr. Sivana]

I also get leery when the controlling authority is something with a wonky name like “Public Safety Canada”. That sounds too much like the folks implementing the Reigb of Terror during the French Revolution.

[Skywise]

You don’t know the flag… could be the Canadian flag for all we know

[xkaydet65]

could be the Canadian flag for all we know...

Or ours.

[Eagles6]

Or the Israeli flag, most likely.

[READINABLUESTATE]

Israeli flag was my first guess.

[Angelino97]

Could be the Red Ensign, which was Canada's flag before the Maple Leaf was adopted in the 1960s. Some Canadian nationalists use the Red Ensign.

[Angelino97]

I don’t think either of you seriously believe it was the Israeli flag.

[Eagles6]

I wouldn't doubt, at all, that this was a counter protestor.

We shall see.

Justine Castreau is beyond woke and LEOs are completely subservient.

[Navy Patriot]

Not sure I believe Canuck Cops or “journalists” about anything they label “Hate Crimes”, I need to see the exact offending flag before even starting an investigation into the incident.

[jjotto]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/toronto-man-accused-of-displaying-terrorist-flag-at-protest/ar-AA1mOxcN

Muslim with ISIS flag.

I’d bet charges will be dropped.

[lastchance]

Here is the list of terrorist organizations. Take your pick

https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx

[READINABLUESTATE]

Canada’s list of recognized terrorist groups.

https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx

[READINABLUESTATE]

Beat me by 15 seconds.

[jerod]

My father was a Sergeant in Cyprus during the 1964/65 UN intervention when the red ensign was lowered for the last time on February 15th, 1965... He refused to raise the new flag. He had fought and lost friends fighting under Canada’s original flag and he never did like the new one and always said... “A red maple leaf, is a ‘dead’ maple leaf”

Canadian’s have now fought and died under the ‘dead’ maple leaf in Afghanistan, so I guess we can accept it now.

[Jumper]

You would think the flag should be green leaf. A red maple leaf is a dead maple leaf.

[wildcard_redneck]

You know the drill, the go after a few creeps with the law at first and then apply it to thousands of regular citizens. All hate crime laws are nothing but thought crime laws.

[jerod]

Liberal means ‘red’ in Canada... The liberals love red. If the government was conservative, it would’ve likely been a blue or green maple leaf.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Not sure I believe Canuck Cops or “journalists” about anything they label “Hate Crimes”, I need to see the exact offending flag before even starting an investigation into the incident."

I agree. And that's also why I don't trust American "hate crime" statistics. Based on specific instances I've read about - over and over - there appears to be a significant bias in determining what is and is not a hate crime, and these decisions reflect the usual left-wing biases.

[Steve_Seattle]

"All hate crime laws are nothing but thought crime laws."

Example: It's not even a crime to burn an American flag, but it's a hate crime to burn a "Pride" flag.