Straight Talk

B.C. journalists face the wrath of vaccine-mandate protesters

by Charlie Smith on February 19th, 2022 at 8:17 PM
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      Once again, journalists have been targeted by those demonstrating against vaccine mandates and the Trudeau government's imposition of the Emergencies Act.

      Today (February 19), Global B.C. News reporter Yasmin Gandham said that she was spat on as she covered a protest in Osoyoos, B.C.

      She also tweeted that she was called a liar and accused of creating "fake news".

      In addition, Gandham stated that her physical appearance came under scrutiny from protesters.

      Meanwhile, angry crowds near the Pacific Highway border crossing jeered CBC reporter Dan Burritt.

      They called him a "tyrant" and repeatedly shouted "shame on you" at him. They also screamed that he should "go home".

      At the same protest, Global News B.C. reporter Kamil Karamali was also targeted. His vehicle was surrounded as protesters screamed "shame on you".

      In Ottawa, CTV reporter Glen McGregor said he was spat upon by a protester and interrupted while doing a live report. Then he was chased back to the office.

      Ottawa-based CBC journalist Evan Dyer was also followed by a mob screaming insults.

      All of this came a day after TVA Ottawa reporter Raymond Filion was shoved to the ground from behind during a live report.

      Meanwhile, CTV national reporter Annie Bergeron-Oliver tweeted on February 18 that she's been told to go home and hang herself. 

      Some media workers, along with people in other occupations, are also receiving notices of liability from COVID-19 deniers and minimizers. These notices threaten that they'll be held legally accountable for their reporting on the pandemic.

      Some of these notices have included photos of people being hanged after being convicted of Nazi war crimes at the Nuremberg Tribunal.

      Some notices of liability being sent to media workers, the judiciary, health officials, and others include images of people being hanged as Nazi war criminals.

      The Nuremberg trials have also been mentioned on protesters' placards in connection with B.C.'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry.

      B.C,'s provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, has also appeared on protesters' signs along with the words "Nuremberg trial".

      This week's cover story in the Georgia Straight highlighted how some people previously associated with the People's Party of Canada have been staging "The Media Is the Virus" rallies outside various Canadian broadcasting outlets.

      The phrase "the media is the virus" has also been used by Pat King, one of the early organizers of the Truckers Convoy 2022.

      At recent protests outside Global News B.C. and CTV Vancouver, the organizers have invited media "whistleblowers" such as Common Ground publisher Joseph Roberts and former entertainment and traffic reporter and morning-show producer Anita Krishna.

      They've each received loud applause from critics of vaccine mandates by slamming the mainstream media's coverage of COVID-19.

      At the rally outside Global News B.C., Roberts claimed that masks don't protect people from the virus, likening them instead to a muzzle. This is even though research at the University of Waterloo has demonstrated that masks can prevent transmission of aerosols, which carry the virus.

      Roberts also called on CBC and Global staff to "defect" to the side of truth.

      Krishna told the crowd outside CTV News Vancouver that "your grandma doesn't care if she gets sick."

      "Your grandma wants to see you before she dies," she insisted.

      At the same rally, former People's Party of Canada candidate Marcella Desjarlais, a.k.a. Marcella Williams, declared that media outlets "are guilty of indictable offences".

      She also claimed that the media are "liable to imprisonment for their hate speech and divisionary words that they are propagating daily in the newspapers, on the Internet, and on TV".

      Later, she encouraged people in the crowd to sign notices of liability.

      "We are putting the packages together," Desjarlais said. "It will be delivered by registered mail to CTV."

      Another speaker at the Global News B.C. rally, Chris Vee, would like the home addresses of journalists made public. He also livestreamed a peaceful protest outside the home of Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.

      One demonstrator who spoke at "The Media Is the Virus" rally outside Global News B.C. wants journalists' home addresses released publicly.

      A University of Ottawa professor of law and medicine, on the other hand, thinks Parliament should pass a law prohibiting harassment of journalists. Amir Attaran made this recommendation on his Twitter feed.

      Back in October, Desjarlais shared Nazi imagery on her Facebook page, noting that "even the media was prosecuted and put to death for lying to the public" during the Nuremberg trials.

      "Should happen again," she wrote.

      After the Straight reported on this, Desjarlais claimed at a subsequent rally that she was "threatened by the media".

      She also told the crowd that she wasn't consulted by the Straight before the story appeared revealing that she had shared the Nuremberg meme on her Facebook page.

      After the meme was shared 416 times, Facebook sent a notice saying she couldn't share anything on the platform for 30 days.

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