A protest outside of a free speech event at a college in Ontario, Canada turned violent Sunday evening as far left demonstrators blocked and harassed supporters trying to enter the building.
The event at Hamilton’s Mohawk College featured People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier and American political commentator David Rubin.
Masked agitators waved signs that read “White supremacy is terrorism” and “Refugees welcome here,” and chanted “Nazi scum, off our streets” as attendees tried to enter the building.
According to a Rebel Media reporter on the scene, antifa members blocked the path of the attendees, shoved their middle fingers in their faces and pulled the hats off their heads.
Things turned positively surreal when a group of antifa agitators got in the faces of an elderly couple as they made their way across the street toward the entrance of building.
“Nazi scum, off our streets!” the antifa thugs screeched at the little old lady hunched over a walker. Three masked agitators moved in so close to the couple, they touched the frail woman’s walker. At that point, one of the goons screamed something and pointed an accusatory finger in the old man’s face as he tried to stand up for his wife.
Four protesters were briefly detained after assaulting conservative attendees, but they were quickly released without charges, according to Portland-based journalist Andy Ngo.
As in the US, antifa in Ontario, Canada assaulted members of the public outside the venue. A handful were detained in a police van then released without charges. https://t.co/J4ZONAIAOe pic.twitter.com/3Rt3A5R90p
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) September 30, 2019
Speaking to reporters after the event, Bernier lamented that his party and his policies are misunderstood, the National Post reported.
“For me, that was the first experience and I must admit that I didn’t like it. It’s not Canadian,” he said of the epithets hurled by
“These people didn’t take time to read our platform because what they were saying, it is not who we are and who I am as a politician, so that’s too bad that they didn’t want to have any discussion,” he said.
“We cannot debate when people don’t want to look at what you’re saying in reality.”
The event, a roundtable discussion on free speech involving Bernier and American political commentator David Rubin, has proven polarizing in a city that some experts describe as a hot bed for the far right.
The school has faced criticism for allowing Bernier to rent the facility, with some accusing the institution of providing a platform for hate speech.
Rubin, meanwhile, tweeted last week that the event had been cancelled due to “threats from Antifa,” stirring allegations of censorship. He later clarified the talk was still taking place.
Mohawk College’s president has said the school is bound by a “government-mandated freedom of speech policy” that requires it to provide opportunities for anyone to voice their views.
“The event in question involves a member of a federal political party that is recognized in the national discourse,” Ron McKerlie tweeted earlier this month. “Rental of this space does not represent an endorsement of the views of the organizers. Our policy is clear about events inciting hate.”
Of course, the only hate on display at the event, as usual, was that of the left-wing demonstrators.