A pro-choice Canadian man was seen on video kicking a pro-life woman. He’s been identified as Jordan Hunt, and his employer just fired him.
Video of the incident was posted by the socially conservative outlet LifeSiteNews. Marie-Claire Bissonnette identified herself as the victim in an op-ed published Tuesday. She said she was helping run Life Chain, a pro-life demonstration in Canada, on Sunday. Bissonnette wrote that she was helping manage the corner of Bloor and Keele streets in Toronto. At some point, a female counter-protester joined them to hold a sign, reading, “My body, my choice, my right,” but she was peaceful.
Bissonnette had a different account about a man who crashed the demonstration. She claimed he took out two markers, and defaced two of the pro-life signs.
“After I warned people to shield their signs, he then proceeded to run up behind five of the participants (including a ten-year-old girl) and scribble with his markers on their backs, ruining their clothing,” she wrote. Bisonnette said the man started talking to the female counter-protester, but the woman discouraged him from what he was doing.
In the video, the man says, “What?” to the female pro-life woman recording him. He brings up a hypothetical situation in which a 16-year-old girl becomes pregnant by rape, and they get into a debate over whether abortion would be justified. The pro-life woman argues no. The man winds up, and apparently kicks the woman.
“I meant to kick her phone,” says the man.
Toronto police confirm that the incident is under investigation, but no arrests have been made as of Thursday afternoon. Spokesman Gary Long told Law&Crime that a woman attended a peaceful protest in the area of Bloor and Keele Streets. Police describe the incident as happening at 2:30 p.m.
“An unknown man approached the protesters and was very disruptive,” he wrote in an email. This man round-house kicked the woman, he fled, and police arrived at the scene. The woman sustained non-life-threatening injuries, Long said. He said he could not confirm the names of the people involved because the investigation is ongoing.
In her account, Bissonnette described police as initially apathetic. She said the man kicked her in the shoulder, which sent her phone flying. He fled the scene after yanking a ribbon off her chest, she said. When police arrived, they didn’t even leave their vehicle, she said. “What do you want us to do about it?”
According to her, police said she could file a complaint, but she’d have to take him to court, and that could only happen if cops were able to find him. She asked if she could file a complaint without going to court, but they said no. Bissonnette met another set of officers hours later, and they were more helpful, she said. Toronto police declined to comment when Law&Crime asked about Bissonnette’s criticism.
Toronto-based hair salon identified the man as one of their now-former employees.
“It has been brought to our attention that Jordan Hunt has been caught on camera assaulting an innocent bystander at a pro-life rally,” the company said in a statement published Wednesday to Instagram. “We don’t condone his actions and he has been let go. We believe that everyone has a right to an opinion and the right to voice their opinion without fear of physical violence.”
Note: This article removed reference to a Twitter account featuring Hunt’s name and a profile picture of his face. We could not independently confirm its veracity as of press time.
[Screengrab via Marie-Claire Bissonnette]