Winnipeg police arrest alleged rule-breaker, issue warrants for five others

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This article was published 27/05/2021 (1309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Controversial anti-masker Chris Saccoccia cancelled a scheduled appearance at a Winnipeg protest rally Friday night following news provincial authorities had issued a warrant for his arrest.

“Due to… all the arrest warrants out against me and the organizers, I was advised by multiple counsels not to go to Winnipeg today,” Sky said in a social media post, adding he and a crew would head to Saskatoon, instead.

Saccoccia, who goes by the name “Chris Sky,” was one of six people targeted by arrest warrants issued Thursday under the Provincial Offences Act.

Winnipeg police would not identify the other five targets, but confirmed one had been arrested.

Church of God (Restoration) minister Tobias Tissen, an outspoken opponent of pandemic restrictions and one of several applicants in a court fight challenging limits on church gatherings, took to Twitter on Thursday to say he was wanted for arrest.

“I’ve just been informed there’s a warrant out for me,” he tweeted. “I’m confident in the Lord!”

The arrest warrants, issued by the province’s public safety investigation unit, were in the works for months and not connected to Friday’s rally at The Forks, Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Nick Paulet told reporters Friday.

“The warrants are stand-alone in relation to previous events,” Paulet said. “There is no nexus between the rally tonight and the public safety investigation unit seeking those warrants. This is something that has been ongoing for a lengthy period of time.”

Saccoccia’s arrest warrant can only be executed in Manitoba, Paulet said. Paulet declined to detail the specific offences alleged in the six arrest warrants.

“The offences don’t stem from a particular rally. The offences stem from breaches of the (public) health order, so that could be a variety of things,” he said.

Paulet said city police and safety unit investigators would monitor Friday’s rally, but he dismissed suggestions police should stop it before it starts.

“It’s not as simple as just going in and dispersing,” he said. “That sounds like a simple solution, but the reality of our democracy in Canada and people’s right to gather in combination with a health order that is subject to interpretation… it’s a much more difficult task to do that.”

Paulet said arrest warrants represent the next level of response after tickets and “attempts to educate” failed to deter people from breaching public health orders.

“There’s an obligation on officials to increase their efforts in order to achieve the objective of the act,” he said. “A warrant is a higher response than the issuance of a ticket, but it is mirrored by the actions of the individual on the receiving end.”

Saccoccia was released on $5,000 bail in Ontario last week after being arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot Premier Doug Ford and threatening to kill another man.

He was released with the consent of the Crown on conditions he surrender all weapons, not drive a car and have the permission of his Markham, Ont., housemate and surety before spending the night elsewhere.

Since his release, Saccoccia has continued to speak at anti-lockdown rallies across Western Canada, including stops in Kamloops, Kelowna and Edmonton.

Dr. Jazz Atwal, Manitoba’s deputy chief public health officer, said protests ignore the reality that people are suffering.

“It’s potential for (a) super-spreader event. It’s a potential to generate cases where, right now, we don’t need to generate more cases,” Atwal said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca