The Regina Police Blocked Rebel News — We’re Fighting Back!

I threatened to sue Regina Police — and they backed down

Why were the Regina Police blocking me and Rebel News on X, formerly Twitter? I believe it’s because I went to Regina to cover a downtown mosque’s plan to blast the Muslim call to prayer over loudspeakers — loud enough to be heard half a kilometre away in every direction — a decision the police signed off on, not city council.

So I had our lawyer, Chad Williamson, send Regina Police Service a demand letter. This week, they blinked: they’ve agreed to unblock Rebel News and to never do it again. You can read their letter of surrender for yourself at TwitterLawsuit.ca.

A win is a win. But it’s a strange letter. First, it claims the force has “no record” of Rebel News ever being blocked. A few lines later, it admits the block happened before June 30, 2026 — just under different communications staff. A ghost, apparently. Then it promises not to block me going forward — while adding that the Service “reserves the right to moderate comments” to enforce its own “policies and community standards.” Which policies? Perhaps the same ones that approved the loudspeaker I criticized in the first place.

The mosque loudspeaker controversy

The Regina Police are deeply involved in the whole mosque loudspeaker thing — which is really weird. It hasn’t been debated at City Hall. There has been no public consultation, as you might expect in a democracy. Regina Police made the call. That’s how it works in a place like Pakistan or Somalia, not Saskatchewan.

And the weirdest thing was that Regina Police put out a statement about the mosque, threatening to arrest anyone who disagreed with it in the “wrong” way — they literally, in advance, said they’d prosecute people for hate crimes.

A police service already under scrutiny

They’re still recovering from a scandal just a few months ago, where they fired their chief of police, Farooq Sheikh, after he was caught sending inappropriate secret messages to commissioners designed to enrich himself. They fired him without severance, so it must have been bad. But they went ahead and hired their HR lead as the new chief. Pretty clear this force is about politics, not policing.

So when I went to Regina to cover the mosque’s press conference, I wasn’t surprised to see police cars everywhere. Being my friendly self, I asked one of the officers what was going on and whether someone from the police would speak with me. They didn’t seem to like that. I finished my reporting and made an hour-long video, which a lot of people watched. When I went back to the Regina Police X account for a follow-up — I discovered I’d been blocked.

Government agencies cannot censor journalists

Blocking people on social media is a tool anyone can and should use to avoid abusive users. I do it myself. But I’m a private citizen. The Regina Police are a government agency, and their X account is a public service run on taxpayer money. A private citizen can block me. A government agency bound by the Charter cannot — not without breaking the law.

The legal demand that made them fold

So I had our lawyer, Chad Williamson, send Regina Police Service a demand letter, giving them until Friday, July 17, 2026 to:

Immediately unblock @ezralevant and any associated Rebel News accounts from @reginapolice, fully restoring interactive access, and confirm the same in writing.
Provide a written undertaking that neither Regina Police Service nor anyone acting on its behalf will block or restrict interactive access for Rebel News or its journalists on any official social-media account operated by the Service.

They didn’t wait for court. Their lawyer, Katrina Swan — writing on behalf of Chief Lorilee Davies, with the entire police commission copied — confirmed we’ve been unblocked and that the Service doesn’t intend to block us again.

I’ve beaten this exact stunt before — against federal cabinet ministers Steven Guilbeault, Karina Gould, Catherine McKenna, Ya’ara Saks and Marci Ien. Guilbeault alone probably cost taxpayers a quarter-million dollars defending his vendetta against me before folding on the eve of trial and paying me $20,000 — which he stuck taxpayers with. Regina Police clearly knew how that story ends, which is why they gave in before we ever filed anything.

A win is a win. But a police force that writes a letter this contradictory hasn’t fully learned the lesson yet — and I intend to keep making sure government agencies know they can’t censor citizens who ask hard questions.

I haven’t got the final bill from Chad yet, but it’s likely around $2,000. That’s real money for an independent outlet that, unlike the police, takes no tax dollars. If you think making government bullies blink is worth it, please help me cover the cost.

Regina Police just learned that blocking Rebel News on a taxpayer-funded account will cost them. Help me keep sending that message — chip in today. Thank you.