UPDATE: Hamilton Police clarify Caryma Sa’d arrest at Doug Ford political rally

Hamilton | Latest News | Politics |

Published May 30, 2022 at 5:22 pm

Hamilton Police clarify Caryma Sa’d arrest at Doug Ford political rally
Hamilton Police have issued a clarification regarding the arrest of Toronto lawyer and self-described political satirist Caryma Sa’d at a Doug Ford rally.

UPDATE: Sa’d has responded to the Hamilton police release correction.

Lawyer and activist Caryma Sa’d has alleged the Hamilton Police Service has attempted a smear campaign hoping to paint her as an “unruly protester” after her arrest at a Doug Ford campaign event.

In a response released via Twitter Sa’d said, “I am not special. Police lie all the time, whether in reports, media releases, or on the stand. This is ‘normal.'”

“It’s lucky I had footage to corroborate the truth. Otherwise, I would have been successfully smeared as an unruly protester who deserved to be put in her place,” she continued.

“Hamilton Police got caught in written lies that were easily disproven by time-stamped videos. It took nearly four days to correct the record, and only because I trounced your narrative online and in the media,” she said in a later tweet. “See you in court.”

She says she arrived at the event, which she has registered for in advance and been invited to, at 5:55. She was waved into Hamilton’s Cargojet hangar by campaign officials.

As she walked through the parking lot she is approached by an official who say, “No, sorry, you’re not getting in.” Sa’d alleges this is the same man who previously denied her entry into Ford’s campaign kickoff event a few weeks prior.

The man refuses to answer any of Sa’d’s questions and identifies himself only as a “PC member.” He doesn’t also refused to specify if he is licensed to act as security personnel.  He says “We know who you are,” and that they refuse to “play this game.”

The man then said he’s going to call Hamilton police, yet continued to follow Sa’d as she walked to the hangar. Waiting outside until the event opens to the public, the man continued to ask Sa’d to leave, refused to both identify himself, or refer Sa’d to a superior.

After some 20 minutes of back and forth, Hamilton police arrives at 6:25 and the man walks to them to discuss. After a two minute talk with police Sa’d is arrested at 6:27 and driven to the property line where she is ticketed.

Hamilton police released a news release later that evening claiming, “A protest subsequently formed outside the premises and eventually moved onto private property, blocking the road to the Cargojet facility. The protesters were asked to move off the roadway. All individuals complied but one individual refused to move and was arrested.”

Two days later, Sa’d said “The official press release from HamiltonPolice is inaccurate & misleading. Their version of events does not match my time-stamped videos. It is a fabrication. I wasn’t part of a protest. I never blocked a roadway. I didn’t refuse to move,” as backed up by her videos of the scene shared below.

Original story follows:

Hamilton Police have issued a clarification regarding the arrest of Toronto lawyer and self-described political satirist Caryma Sa’d, who was handcuffed by officers outside of a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario campaign event where leader Doug Ford appeared last Thursday.

Hamilton Police implied that Sa’d was arrested after refusing to move off the roadway when directed in the original media release. Now, police say Sa’d was arrested for refusing to leave the John C. Munro International Airport premises after being denied entry to the event.

“For greater clarity, the individual was denied entry to a Progressive Conservative Campaign event and was directed to leave the premises by an event representative. She was arrested for failing to comply with that request,” said Hamilton Police. “Following her arrest, she was transported off the property and immediately released with a fine for Fail to Leave Premises When Directed, contrary to the Trespass to Property Act.”

“All questions related to her invitation to attend the Progressive Conservative event should be directed to the event organizer,” said police.

Videos of the incident were posted to Sa’d’s Twitter account last week where she appears to show a hard copy of the event confirmation registration before being denied entry by Ford’s security team and subsequently arrested.

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