Ottawa Police Chief Redefines 'Violence'

Acting Chief Steve Bell is supposed to be a mature law enforcement professional.

Acting Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell used words such as violence and violent activity repeatedly during his testimony at the Emergencies Act hearings this week (see pages 16, 47, 56, 128, 169, 180, 205, 206, and 214 of the transcript here).

When challenged by Brendan Miller, a lawyer representing the Freedom Convoy, he explained:

as I defined violence, it wasn’t strictly Criminal Code violence, and I'm happy to again go through the definition that I was using when I was talking about community violence. This is a part of it, threats, charges under the Criminal Code was a part of it, but it was the trauma that the community felt. It was the extreme circumstances that they were exposed to and the duration of time that they were exposed to that has very clearly been described to me by community members as violence inflicted on them and towards them. [p. 214]

As I defined violence. What community members said was violence. This is a police chief talking. Under oath. At a hearing investigating an extremely serious matter of national and historical import.

Words have meanings. It is not OK to redefine them on the fly. This hearing is not the time or the place for metaphors, for poetry. We have a right to expect police chiefs to use concrete, precise language.

According to Acting Chief Bell, a peaceful and jubilant protest involving bouncy castles, hot tubs, saunas, and pizza ovens is violent if Ottawa residents say it is.

That’s how woke college kids think. Acting Chief Bell is supposed to be a mature law enforcement professional.

The video below is from a press conference late in the protest, and was filmed by Rebel News. Acting Chief Bell declares here that, even if the protesters leave Ottawa of their own volition they will be hunted down by the understaffed Ottawa police force which apparently has eradicated all crime in that city and therefore has time to spare. In his words:

If you are involved in this protest, we will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges. Absolutely. This investigation will go on for months to come. It has many, many different streams both from a federal financial level, from a provincial licensing level, from a Criminal Code level, from a municipal breach of court order, breach of court injuntion level. It will be a complicated and time-consuming investigation that will go on for a period of time. You have my commitment that that investigation will continue and we will hold people accountable for taking our streets over.

Have a listen to his delivery for yourself. If bouncy castles are violence, surely threatening and intimidating statements such as these are also violence.