In a situation that should be concerning to most Canadians, there are members of our country’s media who’ve been actively promoting the anarchists behind the chaos at the Toronto G20. Some journalists have tried to label them as ‘political prisoners’, others tried to minimize the anarchist’s crimes. Others have taken a more dangerous route- writing articles that deify the anarchist leaders as jailhouse activists and martyrs.
One of the most troubling examples was a puff piece Antonia Zerbisias wrote in her column in the Toronto Star. The article was about incarcerated G20 ringleader Mandy Hiscocks’ battle for the rights of marginalized prisoners in her cell block. She talked about being discriminated against “because I’m an anarchist”. Zerbisias’ article practically hailed Hiscocks as a courageous social justice crusader- without any mention of the damage her crimes brought to our city.
Remember how I speculated Zerbisias’ article could help embolden these criminals in the future? Well, today, it seems that speculation is now a reality…