A formal criminal complaint for hate propaganda has been filed with the Ottawa Police Service against the Canadian Islamophobic news outlet Rebel News Network Ltd., and its directors Ezra Levant, Hamish Marshall and Hannah Vanderkooy, as well as former Rebel News presenter Faith Bazos (aka Faith Goldy).

The complaint, produced by the Ottawa based human rights lawyer Richard Warman was submitted on 26 August and aided by research support from HOPE not hate.

Rebel Media, launched in 2015 and run by Ezra Levant, is one of the most important outlets in the international anti-Muslim scene. In the UK it employed Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) for a period and has remained very supportive during his recent spell in prison for contempt of court. Levant even visited Lennon in HMP Belmarsh last month.

The complaint alleges Rebel News Network have breached s. 319(2) of the Canadian Criminal Code by wilfully promoting hatred of the Muslim community through hate propaganda published through the Rebel News Network website and Youtube channel.

While not formally named as there is no evidence any of his activities took place in Canada, the complaint relies heavily on content created by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson) as evidence of them disseminating xenophobic anti-Muslim content. Videos produced by Faith Goldy are also highlighted in the complaint.

The summary of the complaint argues that “The Rebel News videos convey hate messages that overwhelmingly portray members of the Muslim community as terrorists, criminals, paedophiles, rapists, inherently evil, and attempting to take over society” and shows how “The Rebel News broadcasts attack the Muslim community in the same ways or worse than material for which others have already been criminally convicted in Canada.”

While siting numerous Lennon videos, the complaint focuses especially on the one he produced in the wake of the tragic 2017 Manchester bombing that killed 22 people. In it Lennon conveys, what the complaint describes, as “a number of anti-Muslim hate messages”, most notably describing the local Muslim community as “enemy combatants” that “want to destroy our way of life”. The complaint notes that “the dissemination of such hate propaganda can lead those who consume it to engage in hate-motivated acts of violence such as in Norway, Quebec City, Christchurch or elsewhere whether against Muslims, Jews, or others.”

Now that the criminal complaint has been formally submitted it is up to the Canadian police how to respond. We will report as soon as further news emerges.

Read the full criminal complaint HERE.