Remember that delightful encounter we had with those “peaceful” protesters that occurred back in June?

In case you don’t recall, here’s an abbreviated backstory: Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square had been taken over by a collective of ne’er-do-wells known as Afro Indigenous Rising. And I do mean taken over. Think of this group as a poor man’s version of Antifa and/or Black Lives Matter.

Par for the course, they were vulgar and violent and their makeshift tent city was filthy. Oh, and they were also breaking some 11 sections of the Trespass to Property Act. (Even though it took authorities weeks to enforce it…)

When Rebel News went to the square to report, given that it was clear the mainstream media would be sitting this one out due to political correctness, our staff were physically assaulted. But even worse, City Hall security sided with the lawbreakers, actually charging us with trespassing. Yes… trespassing on the public square… a public square that had been surrendered to thugs…

We never did bend the knee. And even though the squatters didn’t want us there, nor the security guards, nor the police, we stood our ground and reported on the chaos at City Hall nevertheless.

But get a load of this: we recently issued a Freedom of Information request regarding this shameful story, and we were shocked to find out that the city had compiled an almost 300-page long dossier — not on the thugs, but on Rebel News staff, complete with bios, spy photographs, and personal information.

The emails that city employees sent back and forth regarding our reporting were astonishing. You see, it became clear that the goal from the get-go was not to remove the violent squatters (who the bureaucrats continually refer to as “peaceful protesters”), but rather to come up with schemes that would limit freedom of the press!

But that’s how they roll in John Tory’s sanctuary city — reward the takers; penalize the makers.

In the meantime, the question arises: why was the city compiling such a database on journalists who were simply practicing journalism? Who has access to this database? And what will it be used for in the future?