Charges laid in Antifa protest of Maxime Bernier/Dave Rubin event

Three people have been arrested and charged by Hamilton police in relation to protests held at a speaking event with political commentator Dave Rubin and People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier last month, report Hamilton Police.

Of those arrested were Alaa Al Soufi, 27, the son of owners of the popular Soufi’s restaurant in Toronto. Also arrested was Kevin Metcalf, 33, who allegedly attacked a man at an anti-M-103 rally in Toronto last year, and Maximiliano Herrera, 30, each for incidents that took place outside of the Mohawk College speaking event.

Metcalf, a former employee of the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression,  had originally posted about his arrest in a lengthy Facebook post on September 30th:

The event gained international attention after a video emerged of three protestors blocking the path of an elderly woman attempting to enter the event. Soufi can be seen in the video wearing a balaclava.

The owners of the restaurant, Husam and Shahnaz Al-Soufi confirmed their son was at the protest, with Husam telling TPM he had no prior knowledge of antifa’s brutish activity, stating: “I was so ignorant about what was happening. I thought antifa was anti-fascist—[that’s] anti-Hitler, anti-terrorist. I had no idea it happened in Hamilton. I had no idea about Mr. Maxime’s speech.”

He went on to say he prays that his son will one day have the opportunity to apologize to the elderly woman who was blocked by his son. “I pray it will happen. And when I say pray, I usually look at a beautiful thing and make a wish. Usually, this beautiful thing is my wife… She is a lovely senior lady and my son blocked her way. Wearing a scary mask is not something we should accept. It is legal but immoral.”

Police say the September 29 event was met with a large group of “more than 100 protestors.”

Four people at the event were arrested and later released unconditionally, according to officers.

Police say that arrests were made after reviewing video footage in the days following the event. Several suspects were identified.

Police say they arrested one male suspect on October 22, with two male suspects turning themselves in the next day.

Soufi has been charged with two counts of intimidation with intent, with one count of causing a disturbance.

Metcalf has been charged with obstructing to police.

Herrera has been charged with intimidation and assault.