Toronto police have arrested a man who is accused of kicking an anti-abortion protester last week. The man has been charged with assault in connection with the incident, and also faces charges related to an incident at an anti-abortion protest in August.
Jordan Hunt, 26, of Toronto, has been charged with eight counts of assault and seven counts of mischief under $5,000 in connection with the alleged Sept. 30 incident near Keele Street and Bloor Street.
Police allege that a group of people protesting against abortion were approached by a man who used ink to scribble on their signs and then kicked a female protester in the shoulder, knocking her phone from her hand. Police say he also ripped off the woman’s ribbon.
A video uploaded to YouTube shows a man in a purple hooded sweater asking an anti-abortion protester “if somebody gets raped by somebody and they’re like ‘I’m a 16-year-old and I can’t have this baby’ think you should keep it?”
“It’s a baby,” the woman can be heard saying just before the man sticks out his tongue and kicks in her direction.
Hunt has also been charged with one count of assault in connection with another incident at an anti-abortion protest. That protest occurred on Aug. 2, near Dufferin Street and Dundas Street West.
In the August incident, police say that a man on a bicycle approached a group of protesters, tried to grab one of their signs and then pushed a woman into a pole before fleeing the scene.
Police say Hunt appeared in court on Saturday.
