Two weeks ago Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam tweeted out a picture of a hate-filled letter that was mailed to her office at City Hall. The envelope was postmarked on April 10th. It’s unknown when …
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[UPDATE: Christopher Wilson interviewed protesters at the woman’s march in Vancouver who indicated they travelled to the march because it was “free”. Who paid for it then?] The Women’s March On Washington appears to have …
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Not guilty, paid dearly, but not good enough for SJWs
Introduction
January 22nd marked the end of a nightmare for Gregory Alan Elliott when Judge Brent Knazan ruled he was not guilty of criminal harassment over Twitter. Elliott was arrested after a prolonged two-way disagreement with three politically connected social justice warriors. This is the second known harassment case over Twitter, the first involved threats made to Conservative MP Michelle Rempel.
Elliott’s ordeal is a tragic example how the impact of being accused of a crime is punishment in and of itself. The arrest cost Elliott his job, his life savings, and over three years living in limbo and banned from the Internet. The maximum penalty he faced was six months in jail but he’d probably had got less time if any. A careless mistake in the court’s final ruling falsely accused Elliott of making an ugly homophobic tweet- the error was reported in newspapers on three continents.
Most of the stories published in mainstream and online media had some sort of balance. Left-leaning journalists were more likely to report on the homophobic tweet (few have made corrections), right-leaning journalists were more likely to focus on freedom of speech issues. That said, three of the stories about Elliott’s acquittal were blatantly manipulative- and they all had one thing in common, they were written by friends of the complainants.
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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2016/02/02/gae-spin-unmasked-pt-1-murky-disclosure-at-the-globe-and-mail-feat-emma-woolley/
Cole & Steph Guthrie recognised by Toronto Life as “influential hashtaggers”
Desmond Cole is a prominent Toronto activist who’s taken a special interest in the police. If you’ve been following the debate on the Toronto Police Service’s “carding” policy it’s likely you’ve heard his story claiming he’s been stopped by police and asked for personal details “50 times”. It’s a shocking story if it’s true, it would be helpful to his credibility if he’d make a police freedom of information request and share documentation to back his claim.
The day after Gregory Alan Elliott’s acquittal, Cole did an interview with one of Stephanie Guthrie’s friends on Newstalk 1010. I was shocked to hear him claim in the introduction that Elliott was charged with “online sexual harassment”. I listened to it again this morning and noticed that Newstalk had edited the mistake out- without noting there was a correction. Not very professional guys!
Shortly after his interview about Elliott, Cole moved on to his favourite subject of attacking the Toronto Police Service. He explained that they’d ordered barricades for their headquarters at 40 College Street. He assumed that the barricades were ordered out of fear protesters might storm the building after James Forcillo’s verdict- the cop charged with murder for shooting Sammy Yatim on a streetcar in 2013. Cole took the opportunity to ridicule the cops saying there’s no way they’d need the barricades- oh, really?
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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2016/01/29/newstalk-1010-misleads-public-on-police-safety-precautions-feat-desmond-cole/
Three years & two months later, Elliott is not guilty
Courtroom 125 was quickly packed when the doors opened on Friday morning. Gregory Alan Elliott’s family and friends congregated towards the right side of the gallery, Stephanie Guthrie and her supporters on the left, and journalists dotted in-between. The room was overflowing by the time the judge walked in, he first ordered extra chairs and later allowed observers to sit in the empty chairs normally reserved for a jury.
Judge Brent Knazan stepped up to the bench with a whoppingly large 89-page ruling and warned observers to look forward to a long day as he read through all of it. Moments before he started reading, the judge matter-of-factly looked up and said “oh, and Mr Elliott, you’ve been found not guilty.” It came so quickly I looked next to Lauren Southern to confirm, she nodded saying yes and we both tweeted out the good news.
But despite the liberating feeling of the judge’s ruling – Twitter will stay free place for the time being – there was one part that left a bitter taste in my mouth. The judge stated four separate times that Elliott had made homophobic comments, a stain on a historic and important court victory. I was having a difficult time reconciling my conversations with Mr Elliott with the person who wrote “Enjoy your AIDS, #TOpoli faggots”. How could this be the same man? Well, it turns out it wasn’t Elliott’s tweet.
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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2016/01/23/court-ruling-makes-serious-mistake-judging-gregory-alan-elliotts-character/
Yes folks, the media’s probably gonna tell you Stephanie Guthrie is a victim…
On Friday morning Ontario Court Judge Brent Knazan is expected to give his ruling on the Gregory Alan Elliott Twitter trial. Elliott was charged with criminal harassment in 2012 for his communications with three politically connected social justice warriors over Twitter- the case has implications over all of our online freedom. I’ll be there to report and will be live tweeting as information comes available- find me on Twitter @grenouf.
The media’s coverage of Elliot’s case has been generally dismal- some stories contained outright defamatory claims, others looked a whole lot like vindictive attacks. In July 2015 Christie Blatchford wrote an accurate analysis of the case’s weaknesses and its implications on free speech- this was followed by a wave of hate, smears, and misinformation attacks from people who didn’t agree with her analysis.
There are some powerful stakeholders standing behind the curtains, some might have difficult questions to answer if Elliott wins- cops, city councillors, journalists, and the Crown to name a few. If the media’s response to Friday’s ruling is anything like it’s been in the past there’s a solid chance Canadians will be flooded a tidal wave of misinformation over the weekend. In the interest of helping ensure there’s more truth and less shameless spin- here are eight key facts every journalist and Canadian should know before tomorrow’s decision:
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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2016/01/21/eight-important-things-to-know-about-gregory-alan-elliotts-twitter-trial/
Clayton Thomas-Muller celebrates new job with airplane selfie!
350.org middle-manager Clayton Thomas-Muller is one of Canada’s most jet-setting climate activists. Clayton’s recent journeys have included far-flung destinations like Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, San Francisco, Paris, and the Mediterranean island of Malta. If he’s been smart enough to have always stuck to the same airline alliance, the indigenous activist’s status card is probably bordering on Super Elite.
Doubling down on hypocrisy of a being a high-flying climate activist, Clayton is also a brand loving anti-capitalist. He proudly wore his Boston Red Sox cap in his airplane selfie celebrating his employment at 350. In a recent Facebook discussion on notebook technology with Greenpeace’s Melina Laboucan Massimo Clayton expressed his love for Apple Macbooks. On his September 2015 trip to New York City Clayton washed-down his Boarshead sandwich with a plastic bottle of Fiji water.
One of the biggest items of discussion amongst frequent fliers this week was the introduction of Canada’s newest ultra-discount airline. Newleaf might not fly to places like Paris – Clayton will still have to schlep it on a top-tier carrier like Air Canada – but their low-cost fares will open up travel opportunities for less fortunate Canadian proletariat who’ve been pining to see long-lost friends & family. This makes Clayton Thomas-Muller unhappy, in his world, flying isn’t for the little people.
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Permanent link to this article: http://www.genuinewitty.com/2016/01/07/globetrotting-anti-capitalist-macbook-lover-doesnt-want-poor-canadians-to-fly/
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