Protester arrested on video says he won’t be dissuaded
When three Alberta sheriffs forcibly carried Cody Haller away by his arms and legs at the Alberta legislature Sunday, he couldn’t help but think how ironic and surreal the whole experience was.
Even before the COVID-19 lockdown occurred, the 34-yearold laid off oilfield worker had become concerned about the erosion of freedom in Canada — so much so that he left his wife and four young children on Mother’s Day to express his concerns publicly in front of the legislative building.
While he was speaking about how Canadians should push back against the weakening of their fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly, he was approached by three sheriffs.
Luckily for Haller and for all of us, the arrest and detention was caught on two videos that have gone viral and led to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney putting out a written statement Monday saying, “We expect that law enforcement will exercise common sense in respecting both fundamental rights and protecting public health.”
Most of us know that calling for more common sense won’t be enough. Firstly, common sense isn’t so common and secondly, pin a badge on some people’s chests and power infects their brains like a virus.
Reached at his Edmonton-area home while feeding Emmett, his five-month-old son, Haller says he was speaking passionately on a blowhorn far away from anyone else when he was approached by the sheriffs.
Initially, he says he was a bit annoyed that he had to stop speaking. Then he was amused at how absurd the sheriffs’ comments were.
But when they lifted him off the ground, holding his arms and legs, he says he was “flabbergasted” and struck by how ironic the situation was.
“I almost couldn’t believe it because I don’t think that that is something that anyone expects to happen in a country where we are told that we are free,” explained Haller, who says he was first put inside a sheriff’s vehicle and then, outrageously, was put in the back of a police wagon and transported to the downtown police station.
The police asked Haller for identification and he didn’t have any on him. He has lost his driver’s licence and didn’t drive to the legislature building.
“At that time they told me that I was under arrest and I was going to be criminally charged for obstruction of justice. So once again this quote unquote free and democratic society that we live in, I guess it’s come to a point where if you don’t have your papers on you, you’ve committed a crime.”
Just like in dictatorships. If you’re caught without papers, you can be thrown in jail.
But the videos are clear. Haller did nothing wrong — something you can hear him tell the sheriffs calmly and respectfully.
He was far away from any other people — so he wasn’t violating any social distancing rules — and he wasn’t calling for people to commit violence or anything illegal. He was just speaking passionately about our rights and freedoms, when his rights and freedoms were violated.
That he got arrested, hauled off, detained and threatened with criminal charges is outrageous. Those responsible should be severely reprimanded or fired.
Jay Cameron, a constitutional lawyer with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), says he reached out to Haller to offer free legal defence to fight the two tickets he received, something Haller says he is considering.
“The actions of sheriffs (Sunday) in the forcible arrest, removal and ticketing of a peaceful civilian from the legislature is concerning,” said Cameron. “The video footage depicts an act of bullying, including physical intimidation, the abuse of authority, and escalation to actual force.
“Authoritarian use of force and aggression against peaceful civilians is a slippery slope,” Cameron added. “Excessive and abusive policing only serves to increase public distrust and suspicion.
It is imperative that authorities maintain a governance model which prioritizes the protection of civil liberties in accordance with the rule of law and the Constitution.”
That’s pretty much what Haller was talking about before he was so outrageously and unconstitutionally interrupted with power-drunk officers.
The JCCF is already representing another man, Patrick Lefebvre, who was arrested, detained and fined $1,200 for “contravening section 73(1) of the Public Health Act” while peacefully expressing himself at the Alberta Legislature grounds on the afternoon of May 2, with just another half a dozen people who were standing well away from him.
On Tuesday, the JCCF is filing an affidavit and asking for a court date to challenge the provincial government’s Bill 10 which gives the province extraordinary powers during the pandemic. For instance, Cameron says Alberta’s Health Minister Tyler Shandro has rewritten the public health act using Bill 10 to allow medical records to just be given to the police, if requested.
As for Haller, he says he’s not going to let what happened dissuade him from protesting.
“If anything, it’s fired me up,” he said.
“I’m extremely concerned about the lockdown and the impact it has on our freedoms, as well as the negative implications that it most certainly has on our economy,” added Haller, who has worked in the oilpatch for more than 17 years, most recently as a slick line supervisor.
In the video, Haller remains calm, peaceful and respectful of the sheriffs, even as he doesn’t comply with their requests.
“I have not committed any offence today,” Haller says calmly.
When they move in to grab him he says, “You are infringing on my inalienable rights, my God given rights that were endowed upon me by my creator.”
Kenney said that his government is “inquiring into why an arrest occurred … If we are not satisfied with the explanation, the government will modify public health orders to clarify that it is acceptable for individuals who are respecting physical distancing guidelines to be present in outdoor public venues, including for the purpose of protesting.”
Kenney needn’t inquire. He should just watch the videos and then make it clear to all law enforcement officers that harassing peaceful protesters is not OK — not now during this pandemic — not ever.
Haller says we don’t need more laws to enshrine our freedoms.
“I don’t believe that our rights come from a piece of paper,” said Haller. “I believe that that piece of paper, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, was written to restrict the government from infringing upon those rights and freedoms that we all have inherently.”
Exactly. And agents of the government had better have a really good reason if they’re going to violate those inherent rights that far too many Canadian men and women have fought and died for.
Authoritarian use of force and aggression against peaceful civilians is a slippery slope.