'It's my job to be out and report': Returning to Montreal to fight curfew charges
Rebel reporter Yanky Pollak never expected to be embroiled in legal battles with the Montreal police when he began covering the province's COVID-19 curfew in 2021. Now, two years later, he's getting ready to defend his journalism in court.
I'm heading back to Montreal again. As many of you know, a year ago I made the trip back to Montreal from Florida to cover Quebec's second instalment of a curfew in 2022.
This followed a five-month curfew that had been in place in 2021, which I documented and reported on from the streets of Montreal almost every night, showing the real-life effects of these draconian lockdowns in the name of COVID safety.
During the 2021 curfew, I piled up numerous unjustified tickets, as did our team of other Rebels who came to Montreal to help me show the other side of the story. We were also subject to constant harassment by the police, with name-calling and unjustified detentions.
The police also had a weird obsession with me being Jewish, at one point calling me “Media Juif” (Media Jew), another time asking if my coworkers were Jewish.
Well, the court dates for these tickets are now coming up.
In total, I have around 15 tickets, ranging from jaywalking tickets to curfew tickets, and a lot in between. These add up to $15,000, but we're not going to back down. We're going to court to fight these charges and hope the justice system serves as a voice of reason in 2023 and will throw them out.
Even this legal fight is costing Rebel News thousands of dollars in additional legal fees. You might remember that the Montreal police also raided our mobile office, infamously dubbed the boat raid, when they tried seizing our Airbnb for an entire day. Ultimately, they left after hours of trying to intimidate us but not until after they arrested David Menzies and held him hostage for a brief period of time.
You can help us with the cost of these tickets, but we are also suing the Montreal police for what they did to us. So, if you can help us fight for freedom of the press so we can continue shining a light on government overreach, please go to LockdownReports.com.
There, you can make a donation and also see for yourself what happened when the Montreal police decided to raid our temporary headquarters. Plus, we are also working on a documentary that will be released later this month, so keep checking LockdownReports.com — you won't want to miss it.
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