GOOD NEWS: A court just ordered the police to pay a $675 fine *to* Rebel News!

Yesterday I was in court in Calgary, fighting for freedom of the press.

And we won.

And — I’ve never seen this before — the court actually ordered the police to pay a $675 fine to me.

Here is Part 1 of my video report about it, filmed the moment before I stepped into court.

Here is part 2 of my video report, filmed the moment after I stepped out.

It’s a big win for freedom. But I’m pretty sure Calgary’s police chief — one of the most politically partisan cops in the country — is scheming his next attack on Rebel News.

As you may know, the Calgary Police Service went to court last month in secret and convinced a judge to give them a court order to seize an unspecified list of photographs, audio recordings and video footage from our company. I had 30 days to comply, and if I didn’t, I risked being sent to prison. It said so right on the order.

Well, yesterday was day 49. Would I be sent to prison?

It was clearly a case of Calgary Police getting vengeance on us for our coverage of their embarrassing and abusive conduct over the past few years, from their shocking roadside arrest of Pastor Artur Pawlowski to their humiliating treatment of Pastor Tim Stephens and their violence against Ocean Weisblatt, the young hockey player they threatened to taser for skating on an outdoor ice rink during the pandemic.

For comparison, just a few weeks ago, 150 Eritrean migrants had a massive riot in Calgary, complete with clubs and sticks, and the police didn’t arrest a single perpetrator. But they sure are good at arresting peaceful Christian pastors.

We led the coverage of these police abuses, so this was their revenge: seizing our footage and threatening us with prison.

Except they got it all wrong.

• They went to the wrong court.
• They spoke to the wrong judge.
• They used the wrong law.
• They didn’t meet the right legal standard.
• And they didn’t even serve us with the order properly.

What a gong show.

So yesterday we went to the right court, with the right judge, and asked her to strike down the Calgary Police order. And she did — and she ordered them to pay us $675 for our trouble. 

The judge said we were right, and the Calgary Police were wrong. That felt good, and it was a reminder that sometimes you can fight against a massive government organization and actually win. 

But make no mistake: the police will be back, with a vengeance. Not because we’ve done anything wrong. But because they have. And they hate the fact that we’ve been reporting about it.

In the meantime, a win is a win.

It is very rare that a police department is rebuked and ordered to pay money to someone they harass.

Not a single so-called press freedom organization in the country has said a word about this. They have all been coopted by Trudeau through his media bail-out.

We really are one of the few independent news companies left.

It cost us $9,000 in legal fees to fight the abusive misconduct of the Calgary Police Service. If you think this is an important fight, please help cover our costs using the donation form on this page. Unlike the Calgary Police, we can’t use taxpayers’ money to fight our battles!