kensington market assault

Toronto lawyer assaulted and thrown from scooter by angry dudebro in shocking video

A Toronto lawyer is recovering from injuries and police are seeking a stolen scooter after a violent assault was captured on video.

Lawyer and political activist Caryma Sa'd was assaulted in a run-in with some very obnoxious-looking characters on June 19, and her cameraman was rolling as the incident unfolded.

Riding her scooter through the Kensington Market area, Sa'd was confronted by a pair of dudebros in a shouting match that quickly escalated to beer throwing and violence.

The video of the incident begins with the pair of bros walking and talking with Sa'd. The white hat bro says, "You're on the opposite side." "Opposite side of what? You can't just yell at people in a park," replies Sa'd.

White hat dude replies "freedom," which must be a trigger word for the chinstrap Nike fanboy based on what happens next.

The smaller dudebro suddenly picks a can of beer up off the ground and violently splashes it at Sa'd and confused bystanders caught in the crossfire on a restaurant patio.

"Yo, what, what, what?," says the aggressive dudebro, before climbing through (and destroying) a patio divider and turning up the dial on his assault, throwing the beer can at Sa'd's cameraman and pushing the pair to the ground. Her scooter was then stolen in the midst of the chaos.

Sa'd has been an outspoken critic of right-wing movements, including anti-vaccine mandate "freedom protests," and has been the target of many verbal attacks from commentators with opposing views.

Her run-in with assailants at Bellvue Park earlier in the day was a prelude to the assault, the pair allegedly accosting S'ad with some pretty vile words.

"I was sitting on a bench at Bellevue Park when two guys walked by on the pathway, yelling 'Freedom' at me. Then they crossed to the other side of the playground and continued yelling at me. I started recording," she said.

"One guy yelled, 'Shoutout to Mr. Freedom' (right-wing roofer Josh Bigger) and the other guy got more vulgar. They kept yelling until they were out of sight. I decided to leave the park shortly after, since the vibe was ruined."

"They were still in the area, and started engaging with me again while they were on the sidewalk and I was scootering on the road," she continuted. "There was an outdoor patio between us. The one man said I was on the 'opposite side' and when I asked him to clarify opposite to what he said 'freedom.'"

Sa'd said the shorter man got agitated when she told him it wasn't okay to yell at strangers in the park, prompting him to toss his beer.

"A group of patrons having dinner got caught in that crossfire. The guy then went through the patio barricade towards my cameraman to attack him. Then he turned back to me," she said.

"He threw a punch at me which pushed me back, and then tried grabbing my scooter from my hands. There was a bit of a tussle and I let go after breaking a nail and getting hit a few times by the scooter. Then he picked it up and slammed it into the street towards my direction. He did that several times."

"At some point, a bystander intervened to try and calm them down and get the guys to leave. The guy denied hitting me and then admitted to pushing me. They kept walking toward College. In the chaos, someone took off with my scooter."

Sa'd says the "shoutout to Mr. Freedom was disturbing because Bigger has been harassing me for weeks. He's trying to get my attention on every platform, calling/texting my office, spamming his pages with unflattering pics of me, tagging me, etc."

The assailant, despite his best tough-guy impression, has been torn to shreds on social media, described as "tiny" and "an angry Elf."

Sa'd reported the incident to the police, and blogTO has reached out to the Toronto Police for comment on the investigation.

Lead photo by

Caryma Sa'd


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