Pandemic protester who yelled at South Asian guard not guilty of disturbing the peace

A Kelowna anti-COVID lockdown protestor who made national headlines when he told a South Asian security guard at a vaccine clinic to go home to his country has been found not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing.

“The issue for this Court is not whether the conduct of (Bruce) Orydzuk was obnoxious or deplorable, but whether it was criminal,” Judge Dave Ruse concluded on Tuesday, finding Oryzduk was not guilty of causing a disturbance on July 13, 2021, ending a trial that had dragged on for months.

“Although Mr. Orydzuk’s behaviour towards (Anmol) Singh was insulting and highly offensive, it did not result in an interference with ordinary and customary use of the premises by the public. I find him not guilty of the offence as charged.”

To have arrived at a guilty verdict, Crown counsel Kevin Short was tasked with proving that Orydzuk deterred people from going to a vaccination clinic by walking around while calling people names and handing out pamphlets that laid out his belief in the potential harm caused by the vaccine.

When the trial began in July 2023, Short said that, by its end, he would need to demonstrate that Orydzuk’s actions weren’t just a nuisance — they prompted a change in behaviour for those who wanted to go into the clinic.

Ruse said that he couldn’t reach that conclusion as there were a number of factors both affecting Oryzduk and those who were in the area.

The witness at the centre of the whole episode, Amol Singh, told the court in August that he believed Orydzuk had done just that.

The then-23-year-old South Asian immigrant got between prolific protester Orydzuk and Kelowna, B.C., reporter Carli Berry.

1:14 Treatment of reporter focus of day 3 of COVID-19 protester trial

Berry testified earlier in the trial that she had approached Singh at the security tent and expressed some concern about Orydzuk.

Shortly thereafter, she filmed the clip of Orydzuk that went viral and gained condemnation from provincial and national leaders.

“I’m having a conversation with somebody, get out of my face,” Orydzuk told Singh in the video that Berry recorded.

Berry testified earlier that she made the recording because she was nervous about what Orydzuk was going to do, but it was later used in a story that she wrote.

“You can go back to your country. You’re not a Canadian. You’re not a Canadian. You are not Canadian. You’re disgusting … go back to India,” Orydzuk said, gaining some infamy.

The outburst did not, however, meet the standard for a criminal conviction.