Toronto lawyer Caryma Sa’d arrested outside Hamilton PC rally

A Toronto lawyer and activist who was arrested and escorted outside of a Hamilton PC Party rally says she believes it was reprisal for her criticism of the government.

Caryma Sa'd tweeted a video of her being arrested and escorted from an event on Thursday evening. The video shows Sa'd being handcuffed while on officer asks Can she leave?"

Another officer responds No, she had her opportunity."

Sa'd then looks at the camera and says This is the Hamilton Police arresting me for political dissent."

The officer then rips a phone and some other items from Sa'd as she repeatedly asks Can I give him my phone please?"

She is then escorted off the premises.

According to Sa'd's account of what happened, she had arrived at the event, with an RSVP under her real name and email address, and was told by a security guard, who had told her to leave a previous event in May, that she was trespassing.

The gist of what he was saying was that they know who I am, they know what I do ... and that I'm not there for the right reasons. And I'm therefore not invited to the event," Sa'd said.

What I could glean from the gentleman who asked me to leave, is that they don't like how I use Twitter," she added.

Police say she was part of a protest blocking access to the campaign event.

She says this is false.

Sa'd has a large following on Twitter and posts political cartoons and photos and videos from various events.

She said at the previous event she was asked to leave, which she thinks was on May 2, she was told she had been flagged."

At that event, she left when she was asked to, she says, but this time around she insisted on knowing who had flagged" her.

When she kept pressing for a name, she says she was arrested.

They basically just drove me off the property to write the ticket. So I was maybe sitting in the (police) car for, I want to say 15 to 20 minutes," Sa'd said.

In another video posted by Sa'd, she asks a man why she was barred from the event. She says he identified himself as a party member.

It's pretty obvious though what your intentions are coming here ...; it's all over your Twitter. We know exactly what you're about, OK, so, you're not invited to this event, you're not welcome," he says.

S'ad responds by reading her RSVP.

It has my name on it. It has my email address. I'm not trying to hide who I am. So I don't understand why I'm going to be prohibited from this event," S'ad says.

The man responds with Because we know you're not here for the right intentions.

You're not welcome at these events. You're on private property right now, now you're trespassing, that's how it works," he adds.

Still, she said she's appalled" she was removed from an event for what she believes was her expression as a private citizen who has criticized the government.

Ivana Yelich, a spokesperson for the PC Party and leader Doug Ford, refused to comment on S'ad's allegations and referred questions to Hamilton Police.

In a statement, Hamilton Police said they arrested a 33-year-old woman with trespassing after a protest at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

They say at 5:30 p.m. or so, Ford attended the airport on a campaign stop and a protest formed outside the event. Police say the protest moved onto private property and blocked the road to the event.

The protesters were asked to move off the roadway. All individuals complied, but one individual refused to move and was arrested. The individual was transported off the property and immediately released with a ticket for Trespass to Property," the statement reads.

Sa'd denied that she was part of any protest.

She said she repeatedly told officers she was a Toronto lawyer with no history of disrupting events or intent to cause any disturbance.

Sa'd showed a copy of her RSVP to the Star, which says We have confirmed your attendance to our rally at Cargojet Airways Maintenance Facility."

While she acknowledges the event was on private property, she said it was advertised as a public event.

There are tweets that Doug Ford has put out, encouraging people to sign up and attend. So I had no reasonable expectation that I would be treated this way," Sa'd said.

She said other people were also deemed to be trespassing but she didn't see anyone else get arrested.

Sa'd said she was issued a $60-ticket for failing to leave premises when directed."

She said she has no explanation for why she was singled out, but believes it was because of her cartoons and blog posts criticizing Doug Ford and his staff.

I'm often critical of Doug Ford and other politicians, as well. But for Doug Ford, I have a real interest in provincial politics. I've published editorial comics about Doug Ford. I've done skits and parodies, blog posts, threads, I try and engage people in a variety of ways.

I guess that political dissent was not welcomed."

Sa'd said she had no intention to incite anyone or cause any trouble at the event.

It was my intention to listen, maybe make some tweets, take some photos and videos," Sa'd said.

The fact that I was an interested resident and someone who votes and someone who conveys political information to people, I found it disturbing that I was barred."

Earlier this month, David Menzies, a reporter for The Rebel, was ejected from a Ford rally in Etobicoke.

Omar Mosleh is an Edmonton-based reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @OmarMosleh