Journalist thrown in jail after reporting on pro-Hamas rally in Canada: 'Because I'm a Jew'



Canadian police arrested a Jewish journalist Sunday after pro-Hamas radicals made clear that his presence would not be tolerated in a public space.

Ezra Levant, the conservative publisher of Rebel News — one of the few media outfits in Canada that does not receive funding from the Trudeau government — was reporting on a pro-Hamas demonstration near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue, a historically Jewish neighborhood in Toronto. Levant was keen to capture some of the radicals' comments and costumes on film, including one demonstrator who dressed up as Yahya Al-Sinwar, the terrorist leader of Hamas whom Israeli forces killed in October.

Pro-Hamas radicals at the rally also held signs featuring the inverted red triangle, a symbol used by Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades to identify Israeli military targets.

In footage from the pro-Hamas rally, which took place opposite a pro-Israel counter-demonstration, radicals can be heard condemning Israel as well as celebrating Hezbollah, even though, like Hamas, the group is currently listed by the Canadian government as a terrorist entity.

Although Levant was lawfully exercising his rights in a public space, police swooped in to remove him when it became clear he had prickled the mob with his efforts to peacefully chronicle the event.

"Police arrested me for 'causing a disturbance' when I was silently filming a pro-Hamas protest in a Jewish neighborhood in Toronto," Levant told Blaze News. "The cops said that my mere presence was causing a disturbance because the pro-Hamas people didn't want me there."

'I am the law.'

Officers swarmed Levant then forcefully carted him away while pro-Hamas radicals yelled, "Get him out! Get him out!" and "Go home!"

"Since when do foreign provocateurs, promoting a banned terrorist organization, get to veto who can and can't walk on a sidewalk?" Levant told Blaze News. "Outrageous."

Blaze News reached out to the Toronto Police Services for comment but did not receive a response by deadline. When asked for comment, the City of Toronto referred Blaze News to the TPS.

In the lead-up to his arrest, Levant can be seen in one video discussing the absurdity of his removal with an officer who told him, "Look around you. They're not happy that you're here."

"You know you're a disgrace," Levant told the officer. "You're a coward also. You'll do what they say because it's the path of least resistance."

When instructed to leave the area, Levant, a former lawyer, told the officer, "You're violating my Charter rights."

The officer responded by insinuating Levant was inciting the mob, then informed the journalist, "I am the law."

Another officer chimed in, asking Levant, "So you're refusing to leave? ... Why?"

"Because I'm a Jew, I'm a citizen, and I'm your boss," said the journalist.

"You know what?" responded the officer. "In the interest of keeping peace here, public safety, you're under arrest for breach of the peace."

Pro-Hamas demonstrators cheered while police handcuffed Levant and carted him away.

Levant, appearing somewhat shaken by the turn of events, told his cameraman, "I'm being arrested because I'm standing on a sidewalk in my city. I'm a Jew who lives in this neighborhood, and I'm being arrested because the police say that that's the path of least resistance."

Levant told Blaze News, "Police handcuffed, searched and jailed me for a few hours, but in the end they declined to press charges. It was obviously 'the path of least resistance.' They knew I’d be compliant, whereas the pro-Hamas thugs have been on a rioting rampage in Canada recently (e.g. in Montreal)."

Pro-Hamas and anti-NATO radicals backed by over 25 leftist groups took to the streets of Montreal Friday, launching incendiary devices, torching vehicles, attacking first responders, and vandalizing storefronts while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — whose electoral district, or riding, is in the city — was busy dancing at the Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.

David Menzies, a reporter at Levant's Rebel News, was similarly arrested earlier this year on multiple occasions for daring to cover pro-Hamas rallies, including one at Toronto City Hall.

'It's a public place!'

Thousands of people, including Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, gathered for an event on April 7 focused on demands for the release of the remaining Israeli captives taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023. Anti-Israel demonstrators tried to crash the event.

"Incredibly, there was a protest of a few dozen people — the pro-Hamas types — which was particularly gross because to me this was like crashing a funeral," Menzies told Blaze News following his release. "They're spouting their rhetoric, which by the way includes calls for genocide like, 'from the river to the sea,' and 'intifada.'"

Menzies attempted to interview elements of the mob outside of city hall but was allegedly assaulted. Police intervened — not to help but to arrest the reporter.

"It's a public place!" Menzies told one of the arresting officers in an apparent state of disbelief. "This is literally the public square."

Menzies later told Blaze News he was charged for alleged breach of the peace and trespassing.

Menzies, like Levant, is accustomed to abuse by the state. After all, he was allegedly assaulted by Trudeau's bodyguards in 2021; roughed up by an RCMP officer, then carted away by York Regional Police after asking Trudeau's deputy minister questions in January; and arrested both on Nov. 11 and in March for asking pro-Hamas protesters questions.

Canada is hardly the only Western nation where the sensitivities of pro-Hamas activists and other radicals are given priority over other citizens' rights.

Blaze News reported earlier this year that London's Metropolitan Police threatened to arrest Gideon Falter, the head of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, if he remained in an area of the city where pro-Hamas demonstrators were marching.

'Sir, you are quite openly Jewish.'

Footage of the confrontation showed Falter, wearing a kippah, ask a police sergeant, "So basically, because I'm Jewish, I can't cross the road today?"

"Because of the march," said the sergeant.

Falter pressed the issue, saying, "Yes, because I am Jewish?"

"That is part of — unfortunately part of the fact," said the sergeant.

The sergeant, who ultimately threatened to arrest Falter for breach of the peace, made a point of noting, "At the moment, sir, you are quite openly Jewish."

Last week, Barbara Slowik, Berlin's chief of police, admitted to the German newspaper Berline Zeitung that "there are areas — and we have to be honest here — where I would advise people who wear a kippah or are openly gay or lesbian to be more alert."

Slowik said she wouldn't "defame any groups of people here" but acknowledged that "there are certain neighborhoods where the majority of people liv[ing there] are of Arab descent, who also have sympathies for terrorist groups."

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Video: Airline passenger makes it brutally clear to race-baiting bigot that his nonsense won't fly



The American flying experience is shadowed not only by the threat of structural breakdown but also of social breakdown. Fortunately, there are remedies for both.

In the case of a recent American Airlines flight set to take off from Tampa, Florida, for Philadelphia, the remedy apparently took the form of a hulking off-duty cop with an apparent zero-tolerance policy for nonsense.

American Airlines flight 2506 was scheduled to depart Tampa International Airport Tuesday afternoon. However, a physical altercation broke out during boarding, resulting in a 30-minute delay, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The incident, which was captured on video, appears to have started when an individual in a blue-striped shirt was asked to disembark and refused to do so.

A male flight attendant can be seen calmly asking the unruly passenger to comply. The passenger threatens the flight attendant, then returns to his seat.

After suggesting that the flight attendants were ganging up on him, the unruly passenger twice hurls anti-Semitic remarks, calling the male attendant a "k**e" and "k**e human."

This was Tuesday. Part 1 of 3. \ud83d\udc47\n\n\u201cYou as a k*** human\u201d
— (@)

The bigot evidently attracts the interest of at least one other passenger, who appears to recommend that he get off the plane.

"You want to be a tough guy, bro?" says the unruly passenger. "You're all teaming up. See how most of the people are white here?"

The unruly passenger tells the female flight attendant, "I'm trying to get to my home country, and you all people made it harder for me to get to my home country. I'm telling you, I'm telling you."

— (@)

Having sapped the goodwill in the airplane, the unruly passenger decides to get physical with a brawny man in a blue-hooded shirt and baseball hat.

"They want to see you up front, cos. Go up to the front," says the man in blue. "C'mon, c'mon."

No longer dealing with timid flight attendants, the unruly passenger's demeanor appears to shift. He calls the man in blue "big guy," then asks, "You gonna touch me?"

The man in blue indicates he is not interested in a physical confrontation, even as the unruly passenger shouts in his face.

As the female flight attendant calls for support, the unruly passenger takes a step in the right direction but pivots, approaching the man in blue, aggressively yelling, "You touch me, fool?"

The man in blue defensively pushes the bigot back; however, the unruly passenger swiftly closes the distance, attacking the man in blue and pushing him rearward into other people standing in the aisle.

The man in blue makes quick work out of the unruly passenger, putting him in a headlock.

"Now put your hands down and don't touch anybody," yells the man in blue.

A woman off camera can be heard announcing, "I'm a police officer.

The man in blue responds, "So am I."

"Turn around and walk," says the man in blue to the bigot.

With the help of the other self-identified cop, the man in blue successfully escorts the unruly passenger off the plane to the sound of applause.

Part 3 of 3. The Grand Finale.\ud83d\udc47\n\nCan we hire the guy in the blue hoodie to work the front lines of the soon-to-be-created deportation task force?
— (@)

The Tampa International Airport Police Department indicated that police arrested the unruly passenger just before 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He was reportedly charged with disorderly intoxication and two counts of battery.

American Airlines told the Inquirer that law enforcement had been requested to the aircraft "due to a disturbance in the cabin involving a disruptive customer." According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the incident involved two passengers who got into a tussle during boarding.

"We thank our team for their professionalism and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," said the airline.

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Dramatic footage shows heroic officers thwart massacre at Lakewood Church while one cop prays over a wounded child



A deranged anti-Semite from El Salvador dragged her son into Joel Osteen's Houston-area megachurch on Feb. 11 and began shooting wildly. Genesse Moreno's attempted massacre was swiftly thwarted by a 28-year-old off-duty Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission officer.

The Houston Police Department released footage of the incident Monday, showing Genesse Moreno's incursion into Lakewood Church and her confrontation with the heroes therein.

Surveillance footage outside the church shows Genesse Moreno — who sometimes called herself Jeffrey Escalante — pull her 7-year-old son Samuel out of a white SUV, then march over to an entrance just ahead of the church's 2 p.m. Spanish-language service, dressed in a trench coat and carrying a backpack.

Another view shows multiple people peaceably mingling in a hallway on the west side of the church scatter in response to the crackle of gunfire. While churchgoers and others run for cover, HPD Officer Christopher Moreno rushes toward the commotion.

The shooter, who can be seen from another vantage ignoring the pleas and outstretched arms of her son, fires at Officer Moreno, prompting him to respond in kind, then take cover inside a doorway off the hallway. Genesse Moreno continues marching forward with rifle in hand, passing the officer — who has been on the force since January 2023.

According to HPD Assistant Chief Keith Seafous, the shooter attempted to enter the sanctuary, but the entrance doors were fortunately locked.

Footage shows TABC Officer Adrian Herrera, working security for the church at the time, approach the shooter from the rear with his handgun drawn and at least three other individuals in tow.

Genesse Moreno can be observed taking notice of the armed presence behind her and opening fire, nearly striking Herrera.

After Herrera answered back with his duty weapon, Moreno began to rifle through her backpack on the ground. The Houston Chronicle indicated that at the time, she had sprayed substances on the floor, which Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña later determined were not hazardous.

Officer Moreno's bodycam footage captures the shooter announcing, "There's a bomb in this bag. Stop shooting."

Security pleads with the shooter to drop her weapon, but she refuses, yelling, "The bomb is gonna go off."

The shooter reiterates, saying, "I will blow up the whole f***ing place."

— (@)

While Genesse Moreno appeared to be preparing the next phase of her attack, Herrera continued his advance, ultimately dropping the shooter with a decisive shot. After floundering on the ground for a moment near her supposed explosive device, Moreno stiffened.

In the exchange, 7-year-old Samuel was shot in the head.

HPD Officer Garcia, whose body camera captured some of the chaos surrounding the incident, can be seen running up to the wounded child and praying over his body.

"Father God, please bring him close to you," says Garcia. "Please bring him close to you."

On her way over to the gun battle, Garcia had similarly prayed, "Father God, just be with us. Forgive us our sins."

Uncertain whether the shooter had a bomb, the officers dragged the shooter's child to safety, then cautiously approached.

Walli Carranza, the boy's grandmother, indicated over the weekend that Samuel was recently removed from a ventilator and is now breathing on his own but nevertheless remains in critical condition.

Tom George Thomas, the 57-year-old volunteer at the church who caught a bullet to the hip during the incident, was released from a hospital in stable condition the day after the shooting.

Blaze News previously noted that Genesse Moreno had multiple run-ins with the law prior to shooting up Lakewood Church. She was slapped with charges for drug possession, assault, illegal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and forgery.

Houston Homicide Commander Christopher Hassig indicated that the gender-bending shooter was also temporarily detained in 2016 over mental health concerns and had a history of mental illness.

According to Genesse Moreno's former mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza, the shooter was a schizophrenic who had been diagnosed with Munchausen by proxy. Moreno allegedly harmed her child more than once and had been the subject of multiple child protective services investigations.

Genesse Moreno had also at one time lost custody of her child but apparently regained it in 2022.

Police indicated early in their investigation that they had discovered some of the shooter's "anti-Semitic writings." Her neighbors spoke of repeated threats, Nazi salutes, and in one instance, the shooter painting a swastika on a nearby resident's fence.

Carranza told the New York Times that Genesse Moreno was a practicing Muslim who frequently targeted her Jewish in-laws with "very anti-Semitic" rants that "were very profane and ... horrible."

Police have not yet confirmed a motive for the attack.

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Effort under way to downplay role of religious and political hatred in pro-Palestinian shooter's attempted church massacre



A raving anti-Semite from El Salvador marched into Joel Osteen's Houston-area megachurch on Sunday and opened fire using a gun with a brand-new "Palestine" sticker on its stock. Two off-duty officers quickly returned fire and made quick and definitive work of the attacker.

While it is not yet entirely clear why the gender-bending pro-Palestinian shooter opened fire in the pro-Israel Christian church, there appears to be an effort under way to downplay the possibility that religious and political hatred were major factors and instead blame gun access.

Quick background

Blaze News previously reported that Genesse Moreno, 36, bypassed a security guard and entered Lakewood Church with a 7-year-old child in tow just before the 2 p.m. Spanish-language service was scheduled to begin. Moreno, reportedly the child's biological mother despite sometimes going by the name Jeffrey Escalante, was dressed in a trench coat and armed with an Anderson Manufacturing AR-15 rifle. She was also carrying a .22 caliber rifle in a duffel bag.

According to police, Moreno began firing inside the hallway on the west side of the church at 1:55 p.m., prompting a response from a 28-year-old off-duty Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent, who fatally shot her.

The child who accompanied Moreno inside the building was struck in the head by a bullet during the exchange. He remains in critical condition at Texas Children's Hospital. Tom George Thomas, a 57-year-old volunteer at the church, took a bullet to the hip but has since been released from a hospital.

While certainly her last, this was not Moreno's first run-in with the law.

Over the past two decades, Moreno has been slapped with charges for drug possession, assault, illegal possession of a weapon, resisting arrest, and forgery, reported CNN.

Houston Homicide Commander Christopher Hassig indicated that the gender-bending shooter was also temporarily detained in 2016 over mental health concerns and has a history of mental illness.

KHOU-TV reported that Moreno's former mother-in-law, Rabbi Walli Carranza, claimed in court documents that the shooter had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and Munchausen by proxy; had harmed her child more than once; and had been the subject of multiple child protective services investigations.

The Houston Chronicle noted that Moreno lost custody of her son to her Jewish ex-husband at one point but apparently regained it in 2022.

Early in the investigation, police also indicated they had uncovered some of the shooter's "anti-Semitic writings."

Downplaying ideological motives

One of Moreno's neighbors told KPRC-TV that she routinely threatened nearby residents with weapons. Extra to painting a swastika on a neighbor's fence, she is alleged to have repeatedly made Nazi salutes in public.

Carranza told the New York Times that Moreno frequently targeted her Jewish in-laws with "very anti-Semitic" rants that "were very profane and ... horrible."

Despite acknowledging that her former daughter-in-law had been a practicing Muslim, Carranza stressed, "This has nothing to do with Islam. This ranting, I'm sure, was fueled by mental illness."

The former mother-in-law appeared to suggest in a Monday Facebook statement that religious or political hatred were ultimately the "excuse" for Moreno's attack.

"Although my former daughter-in-law raged against Israel and Jews in a pro Palestinian rant yesterday this has nothing to do with Judaism or Islam. Nothing," wrote Carranza. "But this is what happens when reckless and irresponsible reporting lets people with severe mental illness have an excuse for violence."

After highlighting a potential trigger for the violence, Carranza pinned blame on the Lone Star State for "not having strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from owning or possessing a gun. Let it be clear that the second amendment stops where the first amendment right to life begins and it's time to remove from the US Constitution any protection for gun ownership."

Various Democratic lawmakers, including state Reps. Ann Johnson and Gene Wu, have amplified the suggestion that red-flag legislation such as Texas House Bill 3057 "could have prevented this very incident," reported the Chronicle.

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Indianapolis police say 'terrorist' drove her car into a building after mistaking it for a Jewish school: 'I'm just getting my anger out'



A woman was arrested Friday after allegedly driving into a building she had figured for a Jewish school. Ironically, the building 34-year-old Ruba Almaghtheh admitted to plowing her Chevy Impala into belongs to a group known for similarly being anti-Semitic.

Almaghtheh, who appears to have come to the U.S. from Jordan, intentionally drove her car into the Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge in the 3500 block of North Keystone Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on Friday, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police.

In footage of her arrest shared to the ISUPK's YouTube page, Almaghtheh can be heard denouncing Israel, criticizing America's support for Israel, and admitting, "I'm just here because if I don't do anything, I'm going to really have a heart attack sitting in my fricking chair. ... I'm just getting my anger out."

TERRORIST ATTACK ON AMERICAN SOIL ISRAELITE SCHOOL OF UNIVERSAL PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGEyoutu.be

According to court records, an adult, a 7-month-old baby, and three toddlers were inside the school at the time of the attack, reported the Indianapolis Star. No one was injured.

WXIN-TV reported that Almaghtheh told officers she had been watching news coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and hatched a scheme to attack the ISUPK, figuring it for a Jewish "Israel school" on account of the "Hebrew Israelite" symbol on the front of the building.

The Anti-Defamation League considers the ISUPK "an extreme and antisemitic sect of Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI) who believe that they are the only true BHI group because of ties to early organizations." Some BHI adherents assert that "white people are agents of Satan, Jews are liars and false worshipers of God, and Blacks are racially superior and the only true 'chosen people.'"

According to the IMPD, Almaghtheh said, "Yes. I did it on purpose," referencing "her people back in Palestine" and her inability to "breathe any more."

A probable cause affidavit for her arrest indicated that Almaghtheh also admitted to her sister during a courtesy call that she intentionally crashed into the building.

Officers reportedly labeled her a "terrorist."

Almaghtheh is reportedly being held at the Marion County Jail on a preliminary felony charge of criminal recklessness but was not formally charged as of late Monday, said Michael Leffler, a spokesman for Marion County Prosecutor's Office.

She is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Captain Chaapash Yahawadah, the leader of the school, stated Monday, "We are not affiliated with the white Jewish community. We are not affiliated with what's going on over there in the Middle East," underscoring that "the black community will not be a whipping stick for the Palestinians."

The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis said in a statement, "The threat level for our community has not increased. Safe Indiana, our Jewish community security program, was immediately notified, and has been working alongside law enforcement on this incident. Safety and security for our community is of the utmost importance, and we are more secure and prepared than ever before."

The organization suggested, "Although a Jewish facility was not targeted, solely due to ironic misidentification, this is yet another reminder to maintain security protocols, remain vigilant of suspicious activity and to report same promptly to the appropriate authorities."

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Biden Compares Trump To A Nazi Propagandist And Dictator Fidel Castro

'[Trump] is sort of like [Joseph Goebbels]. You say the lie long enough, keep repeating, repeating, repeating, it becomes common knowledge,' Biden said.