A charge against a Toronto man accused of flying what police deemed a “terrorist flag” at a pro-Palestinian demonstration earlier this year has been withdrawn.
The accused, a 41-year-old man, was charged with publicly inciting hatred after marching down Queen Street W. and Bay Street on Jan. 7 allegedly waving the flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine — an organization listed as a terrorist group by Public Safety Canada.
The man’s lawyer, Shane Martínez, said the charge was withdrawn by the Crown Attorney because there was “no reasonable prospect of conviction.” CBC Toronto reviewed court documents indicating the charge was dropped Friday.
Martínez says the force’s case hinged on the flag being listed by the federal government as a terrorist group, which in and of itself isn’t enough evidence for a conviction.
“It shows that the police acted not on a legal basis but on a political basis,” he told CBC Toronto.
“Those who are attending protests in solidarity with Palestine and in solidarity with the people of Gaza come from many different backgrounds. And what we see is a very troubling trend in the city of the police treating these demonstrators in a different manner than they would treat demonstrators in other circumstances.”
CBC News has reached out to Toronto police for comment.
Martínez said his client, a single father, was the subject of “racism and online abuse” as a result of the charge and police not revealing what the flag was right away, leading the public to speculate.
“There was no reasonable prospect of conviction, but [the accused] was left to suffer the consequences,” he said.
Martínez said he’s working on other cases that have risen out of similar protests. He said moving forward, the dropped charge serves as a reminder that people can’t take what police say at “face value.”
“We need to make sure that what is given the most attention and the most prioritization is the presumption of innocence,” he said.
Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw previously called the charge “unprecedented,” noting the “very high threshold” to charge anyone with a hate propaganda offence. Experts previously told CBC News the incident would be difficult prosecute as a hate crime.