Police say they’ve arrested Calgary mayoral candidate Kevin J. Johnston after he was found to have attended an illegal public gathering earlier Saturday.
According to a statement from Calgary Police Service, the morning event that Johnston attended violated an Alberta Health Services order that placed “restrictions on organizers of events, including masking, physical distancing and attendance limits.”
“We are at a critical point in our province’s response to the pandemic and citizens must comply with public health orders in order to ensure everyone’s safety and well-being,” police said in a release.
Johnston has previously shown himself as a far-right social media personality.
On Friday, AHS was granted a restraining order against Johnston after he publicly threatened health-care workers and officials in a series of online video streams over the past number of weeks.
In several instances, Johnston also posted personal information and photos of AHS staff and called on his followers to do the same.
Johnston previously spoke to Global News earlier this week and claimed AHS was in “contravention of the law” after enforcing public health orders. He said that if he was elected mayor, he would order Calgary police to arrest the province’s health staff.
AHS said Friday that it had requested the restraining order “protect staff and physicians.”
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Premier Jason Kenney referred to Johnston in a tweet Saturday, saying: “Glad to see that a restraining order has been issued against this nutbar who has been making threats of violence targeting AHS staff for doing their job.”