John Furr Even- The Single Tweet That Says It All!
On March 23, 2012 I had the unique opportunity to have coffee with one of Toronto’s biggest trolls. I was new in town and Doug Hatlem-Johnson invited me for a friendly conversation. He seemed nice enough, the Toronto Star promoted him as a Mennonite street preacher and hero to the homeless, and he’s an American who worked for the Mennonite Central Committee. He sounded interesting enough so I figured why not! Well, it only took about 30 minutes into our meeting for me to realize I shouldn’t rely on the Toronto Star as a character witness.
In the past three years I’ve been researching militant radicals, I’ve met no shortage of distasteful characters. That said, of the many anti-social faux revolutionaries who’ve crossed my path, few have even come close the vitriolic hate I’ve seen trumpeted by Hatlem-Johnson. If you’re ever in need of the perfect example of how lost (and often depraved) Toronto’s social justice movements have become- you need look no further than Doug Hatlem-Johnson (twitter handle @occbaystreet).
In the hours of the day when he’s not at OCAP ralies, socializing with violent G20 ringleaders, radicalising or exploiting his marginalized victims, deifying cop-baiters, hanging out with OCAP and masked thugs, or bad-jacketing his perceived enemies; one of Hatlem-Johnson’s favourite activities is to search for (and all too often create or embellish) opportunities to attack the police. In Hatlem’s world, all forms of policing are inherently evil- and it’s his solemn duty to wipe them off of the map.
A few weeks ago Dear old Doug tweeted out a picture of an alleged juvenile offender being arrested by officers of the Toronto Police Service. Both Doug (and the person who supposedly took the picture) claimed that police officers brutalized the young man- going as far as to punch him in the scrotum. Whether it’s the rare moment he has something real; or the more common situation where he’s twisting and/or completely making things up- Doug will take any opportunity he can to attack the police.
The Toronto Police Service generally doesn’t bother responding Doug’s Twitter attacks, but this time they tried something different- a series of tweets debunking the allegations. They explained that the picture was taken over ten minutes after the actual incident occurred, and happened in an entirely different district than where it was claimed to be. After tweeting a virtual marathon of explanations, the TPS appears to have made its case- Doug Hatlem-Johnson has been pwned.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next- Doug’s not the type of guy who knows when to stop- even when a story has been proven beyond a doubt to be false. Doug Hatlem-Johnson is a strange duck; often dark, anti-social, and occasionally unstable- but always chock full ‘o entertainment.
We’ll leave you today with a classic video of Doug leading a 2013 F**k The Police event in front of the Toronto Police Service’s 52 division station. Doug’s church must be so proud of him- if you’re ever given the choice between dining with Doug Hatlem-Johnson or the #TTCLeprechaun, it’s strongly recommended you take the latter…
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These guys are clowns.
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Indeed, Doug is one of the biggest clowns I’ve met…
[…] “On March 23, 2012 I had the unique opportunity to have coffee with one of Toronto’s biggest trolls. I was new in town and Doug Hatlem-Johnson invited me for a friendly conversation. He seemed nice enough, the Toronto Star promoted him as a Mennonite street preacher and hero to the homeless, and he’s an American who worked for the Mennonite Central Committee. He sounded interesting enough so I figured why not! Well, it only took about 30 minutes into our meeting for me to realize I shouldn’t rely on the Toronto Star as a character witness.” […]