On Saturday, thousands of Canadians took to the streets of Edmonton to participate in the Women's March. During a scuffle between marchers and counter protesters, a female journalist was assaulted by a male anti-Trump demonstrator after she questioned the Canadian why he was so angry over election results in the United States.
Dion Bews, a guitar maker, turned on reporter Sheila Gunn Reid, shouting at her to "get the f--k out of my face" after the reporter approached Bews when she witnessed him heckling a group of men and women who were singing the Canadian national anthem.
After introducing herself as a reporter from the conservative news outlet Rebel Media, Bews launched an expletive-laden rant and turned his back on Reid. After a few seconds, Bews turned around and threatened to break the reporter's camera if she didn't leave. Before Reid could respond, the angst-filled protester struck at the journalist, hitting the camera with his fist.
Protester instructs reporter to chill out
Video footage of Bews' deplorable antics, as featured on the UK's Daily Mail website, shows another protester telling the victim that she needed to calm down. "He just hit me in the face, don't tell me to calm down!" replied Reid. The video has been widely circulated on social media, with a title from Rebel Media claiming, "Thug punches Rebel reporter." The popularity of the video led to Bews deleting his Instagram page and deactivating his business page on Facebook.
Tiana Barnes, the protester who told the reporter that she needed to "calm down" denied that no real assault took place, since Bews had struck the camera rather than the reporter -- even though Reid claims that she was looking through the camera's viewfinder when it was struck.
Reid not backing down
Reid, who spoke to the Daily Mail on Monday about the Women's March in Canada incident, insists that Dion Bews did intend to hurt her. "I do think Bews intended to hit me with the camera," said the reporter. "How could he not? Where did he think the camera was going to go when he hit it?"
