In yet another anti-mask conflict, a Canadian man has been charged with assault after he was involved in an altercation inside a store. The man has since set up a GoFundMe page in order to raise money for his legal fees.
The incident, which Burnaby Now reports occurred on February 22, started when Canadian Tire employees attempted to escort Christopher Ivany out of the store after his refusal to wear a mask.
A video taken of the altercation shows Ivany surrounded by what appears to be the store’s security staff.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t f****** touch me!” Ivany yells as employees attempt to escort him off the premises. “My human rights are trumping your bulls*** mask mandate.”
Security staff members can be seen attempting to restrain Ivany after he appears to hit them.
Ivany can be heard yelling emphatically, “Get your hands off of me!”
The video, which captures over two-and-a-half minutes of the altercation, also shows several employees wrestling him to the ground as they tell him—and he refuses—to put his hands behind his back.
One employee has his arm around Ivany’s neck while others try to restrain him. Ivany yells, “You’re choking me. Somebody film this.”
The employee responds, “Nobody’s choking you.”
The ordeal continues. Ivany yells, “They’re assaulting me.”
Several of the employees respond, “No, we are not.” Another adds, “You’re resisting.”
Still refusing to comply, Ivany continues to yell and insists that he is unable to breathe. An employee tells him, “Nobody’s touching you.”
Ivany has been “charged with two counts of assault, one count of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and one count of contravening public health orders.”
According to Ivany’s GoFundMe page, his first court appearance took place March 16. He writes that the money raised by the fundraiser will “help pay lawyer fees so I can beat this case and counter with a lawsuit against those employees who were involved and the fake news media which has slandered me and committed libel against me.” He writes that the donations “will be used to fight this tyranny and communism that’s coming to our beloved country.”
He also states that the altercation and subsequent charges against him caused him to lose his job.
As Ivany puts it, he was “assaulted, handcuffed and detained illegally and unlawfully by Canadian Tire employees.”
At the time of writing, the GoFundMe page has raised $9654 with a $20,000 goal.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
