UK free speech advocate Tommy Robinson was arrested for an “outstanding immigration warrant” outside his event in Calgary Monday evening. Robinson said he was invited to come to Canada to discuss freedom of speech by Dr. Gad Saad and Dr. Jordan Peterson and his wife, Tammy Peterson. He had already spent a week in Montreal and was planning on going to Toronto after events in Calgary and Edmonton. Video footage shows two plainclothes policemen arresting Robinson at the southeast hotel, verbally stating the outstanding warrant charge, while surrounded by several other uniformed officers. He was put in an unmarked police vehicle and taken into custody. .Robinson was released hours later, and showed paperwork to Rebel News boss Ezra Levant, his former employer, that showed he was ordered to stay in Calgary and await a hearing. When asked specifically what he has been accused of, Robinson said, “They haven’t accused me of anything, just immigration violations.: Robinson said he had “already been through immigration” to enter Canada, where he was questioned in a three-hour interview. He has never been to Canada before. He referred to an audio clip he had recorded in the police car and sent to Levant, where the officer said the warrant could be related to “national security.” Calgary police Service (CPS) officers repeatedly told him, “this isn’t us” who ordered the arrest, and indicated, on the recording, it was a federal order. “They said ‘this isn’t out decision.’ They made that very clear,” said Robinson. .Officials “didn’t say” when that hearing would be. Police were deliberating whether they should hold him at a Calgary jail for 48 hours or send him to Vancouver where the “immigration centre” is, he said. Included in his conditions of release, the podcaster is compelled to hand over his passport to the CPS Tuesday morning, present himself at the police station “every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday” to “check in,” and give police the name and address of the hotel he would be staying at in Calgary. “I’m banned from leaving Alberta,” he told Levant."I’m not allowed to leave Canada,” he said, adding he asked what if he “just wants to go home,” and was told, “you’re not allowed to.”Robinson was scheduled to continue his free speech tour in Edmonton Tuesday night, but he told Levant he’s “not allowed to go to Edmonton” — his bail conditions only allow him to go as far north as Red Deer. “That’s to stop me talking in Edmonton, and that’s to stop me talking in Toronto,” he said. The tour was scheduled to head to Ontario next. “That’s what I told them. The sole purpose of this is to stop me having discussions and talking in the cities I was meant to be in.”
UK free speech advocate Tommy Robinson was arrested for an “outstanding immigration warrant” outside his event in Calgary Monday evening. Robinson said he was invited to come to Canada to discuss freedom of speech by Dr. Gad Saad and Dr. Jordan Peterson and his wife, Tammy Peterson. He had already spent a week in Montreal and was planning on going to Toronto after events in Calgary and Edmonton. Video footage shows two plainclothes policemen arresting Robinson at the southeast hotel, verbally stating the outstanding warrant charge, while surrounded by several other uniformed officers. He was put in an unmarked police vehicle and taken into custody. .Robinson was released hours later, and showed paperwork to Rebel News boss Ezra Levant, his former employer, that showed he was ordered to stay in Calgary and await a hearing. When asked specifically what he has been accused of, Robinson said, “They haven’t accused me of anything, just immigration violations.: Robinson said he had “already been through immigration” to enter Canada, where he was questioned in a three-hour interview. He has never been to Canada before. He referred to an audio clip he had recorded in the police car and sent to Levant, where the officer said the warrant could be related to “national security.” Calgary police Service (CPS) officers repeatedly told him, “this isn’t us” who ordered the arrest, and indicated, on the recording, it was a federal order. “They said ‘this isn’t out decision.’ They made that very clear,” said Robinson. .Officials “didn’t say” when that hearing would be. Police were deliberating whether they should hold him at a Calgary jail for 48 hours or send him to Vancouver where the “immigration centre” is, he said. Included in his conditions of release, the podcaster is compelled to hand over his passport to the CPS Tuesday morning, present himself at the police station “every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday” to “check in,” and give police the name and address of the hotel he would be staying at in Calgary. “I’m banned from leaving Alberta,” he told Levant."I’m not allowed to leave Canada,” he said, adding he asked what if he “just wants to go home,” and was told, “you’re not allowed to.”Robinson was scheduled to continue his free speech tour in Edmonton Tuesday night, but he told Levant he’s “not allowed to go to Edmonton” — his bail conditions only allow him to go as far north as Red Deer. “That’s to stop me talking in Edmonton, and that’s to stop me talking in Toronto,” he said. The tour was scheduled to head to Ontario next. “That’s what I told them. The sole purpose of this is to stop me having discussions and talking in the cities I was meant to be in.”
