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Friday, April 8, 2022

Ottawa arsonists not linked to Freedom Convoy

Police charge 2nd man in arson during Ottawa convoy protest | CBC News:

April 6, 2022 - "A second man has been charged after an attempted arson in a downtown Ottawa apartment building during the so-called Freedom Convoy, but police again say they haven't uncovered anything linking the accused with the protest. The incident on Lisgar Street Feb. 6 prompted city politicians and some of the building's residents to link the event to the protest, which occupied streets in front of Parliament Hill and angered downtown residents for more than three weeks.

"On March 21, ... Ottawa police charged a 21-year-old Ottawa man in connection with the incident and said they were hoping to identify a second suspect. On Wednesday, police said a 41-year-old Ottawa man is facing the same set of charges as the 21-year-old: arson with disregard for human life, arson causing property damage, mischief to property, mischief to property endangering life, and possessing incendiary material. In news releases announcing both sets of charges, police said there is 'no information' indicating the men were 'involved in any way' with the protest.... 

"[Ottawa] Mayor Jim Watson included the arson in a list of incidents of harassment against residents and disruptions he blamed on the ongoing protest. Coun. Diane Deans also cited an alleged detail from witnesses — that the front door was duct-taped to prevent those outside from entering the building — which she said showed the escalation of protester tactics knew no bounds."

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/apartment-building-lisgar-arson-second-man-charged-1.6410506

How the Liberals and NDP pushed the arson hoax about the Freedom Convoy | True North - Cosmin Dzsurdzsa:

April 7, 2022 - "Despite the now undeniable absolution of the Freedom Convoy of an alleged attempt to burn down a building full of entrapped residents, the governing Ottawa establishment seems to have been replaced with crickets.... Throughout February, Liberal and NDP MPs (alongside the legacy media establishment) continued to insinuate that protesters had been involved in the incident, if not actually accuse them of responsibility. The false claims not only litter the Hansard records of debate and committee proceedings in the House of Commons, but they were also repeated on social media and by pundits opining on the evils of the anti-restrictions protesters who had gathered in the capital. 

"NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was the first to introduce the false accusation to the official record when he pointed to the incident as an 'example' of the so-called commonplace violence at the protests. 'We saw an example of this violence with an attempted arson of a downtown apartment building, where people started a fire and taped the doors closed when they exited. I ask members to take a moment to think what that means. They had the forethought to set a fire and then tape the doors so no one could escape,' said Singh on Feb. 7. 

"The accusation was solidified when the Liberals called for a unanimous consent motion calling on the House to condemn 'the arson attempts … by protesters on the streets of Ottawa.' When the motion failed to pass without the support of the Conservatives, Liberal MP and attack dog Mark Gerretsen used it to beat the official opposition over the brow and accuse them of not wanting the protest to end. 'They knew what they were saying no to. One lone Conservative over there, obviously set up by the whip’s desk, probably with their head down, said no and rejected the unanimous consent motion on behalf of the Leader of the Opposition,' claimed Gerretsen. 'It is clear that she does not want the protest to end for the same reasons the rest of the country does.'

"The examples are too many to include in one article, but the same claims were repeated by MPs Sameer Zuberi (Lib.), Matthew Green (NDP), Arif Virani (Lib.), Francisco Sorbara (Lib.), Alistair MacGregor (NDP), Anita Vandenbeld (Lib.), Laurel Collins (NDP), Ron McKinnon (Lib.), Jennifer O’Connell (Lib.), Ryan Turnbull (Lib.), Parm Bains (Lib.), Jenny Kwan (NDP), Andy Fillmore (Lib.), Peter Schlefke (Lib.) and Gord Johns (NDP).... 

"The push to pin the attempted arson in Ottawa onto the Freedom Convoy betrays how much the government has and continues to rely on shoddy reporting and even social media to leap into action.... [T]he arson was immediately pinned to the convoy by a local resident who clearly had a gripe with the protest movement and its goals....  Without further investigation, politicians took this claim and ran with it.... Looking through the parliamentary debate, it is clear that a hoax played a key role in justifying Trudeau’s first-ever use of the Emergencies Act, potentially setting a precedent for the regular use of government emergency powers to quash protests that are politically inconvenient."

Read more: https://tnc.news/2022/04/07/dzsurdzsa-how-the-liberals-and-ndp-pushed-the-arson-hoax-about-the-freedom-convoy/

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