Toronto police have responded to a now-viral video showing officers delivering coffee to an anti-Israel protester during a recent demonstration.
The video, initially shared on X by lawyer and investigative journalist Caryma Sa’d, shows a Toronto police officer carrying a box of Tim Hortons coffee and cups and handing them to protesters. The recipient, dressed in Palestinian garb, explains the delivery was not sent by the police, but someone else who bought the coffee for the protesters attempting an anti-Israel demonstration on a highway overpass. “But police won’t let them in, so the police is now becoming our little messengers between us,” the man says.
The clip received an outpouring of condemnation online from critics alleging preferential treatment by police to those protesting against Israel, contrasted with how Canadian law enforcement has cracked down in the past on the “Freedom Convoy” of truckers protesting COVID-19 mandates, as well as some pro-life demonstrations.
Reached by Fox News Digital Sunday, Toronto Police Service spokesperson Laurie McCann said, “In regards to the coffee post on X, Our officers are managing a dynamic situation.”
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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather outside Union Station during a rally in Toronto, Ontario on Jan. 4, 2024. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Their top priority is maintaining order in a tense environment on the Avenue Road bridge,” McCann said in an email. “In performing a helpful act yesterday, our officer’s motivation was to help keep tensions low and should not be interpreted as showing support for any cause or group.”
“Our officers continue to work to de-escalate these demonstrations and maintain calm and the public’s safety,” McCann added.
The account @LibsofTikTok amplified the video viewed more than 1 million times on X, writing, “In Canada, patriotic truckers get their bank accounts frozen but pro-Palestine protesters blocking a Jewish community get hot coffee delivered to them by police.”
In a post to his nearly 428,000 followers, Rebel News publisher Ezra Levant wrote, “@TorontoPolice gives coffee and donuts to Hamas supporters. @OttawaPolice hides the identity of antisemitic hate criminals. They’ve both been colonized by dangerous, woke partisans.”
“You cannot trust the police in most Canadian cities,” Levant said.
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The video comes as Toronto police are investigating a fire and graffiti at a Jewish-owned grocery store as a possible hate crime.
The business, International Delicatessen Foods, on Steeles Avenue West near Petrolia Road, had the message “Free Palestine” spray-painted outside, CBC reported. Toronto police confirmed to Fox News Digital the incident remains under investigation as of Sunday.
In addition to the Toronto coffee video, Levant responded to a press release Friday announcing that the Ottawa Police Service Hate and Bias Crime Unit has charged an individual following a “series of mischief to property incidents in the Downtown area in December.” The police’s release omitted the suspect’s name.
“In the evening hours of December 22nd, the individual spray-painted a series of antisemitic symbols and other hateful messages in multiple locations in the Downtown and Golden Triangle areas. A 34-year-old Ottawa man has been identified and charged with 18 counts of Mischief to property. He is expected to appear in court today,” the release read.
Another critic, lawyer Ryan O’Connor, shared screenshots of posts by another Toronto Police Service employee initially defending the video, saying officers managed a “dynamic situation.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather outside Union Station during a rally in Toronto, Ontario, on Jan. 4, 2024. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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“So after a Toronto Police spokesperson – who defended the police providing taxpayer-funded coffee to protesters blockading a highway bridge and entrance to a Jewish neighbourhood on the Sabbath – was criticized online, she simply deleted her Twitter account,” O’Connor claimed.
“Toronto Police: if you block a highway bridge containing 1 of only 3 road entrances to a neighborhood full of Jews, on the Sabbath, you can expect not to be arrested but to get some taxpayer-funded coffee for your efforts,” O’Connor had written earlier, initially reacting to the video.