Edmonton Journal/Sun journalist harassed and followed

Edmonton Journal/Sun journalist Lauren Boothby was harassed and followed by far-right activist Kevin Johnston while she was covering a church service at the GraceLife Church near Edmonton, Alta.

Videos posted by each party show Johnston following and verbally harassing Boothby and other journalists.   

Johnston, a right-wing figure and one-time Calgary mayoral candidate, who has been active in the anti-mask and anti-vaccine movements, has a long legal history. 

Recent incidents include a 2021 guilty plea for inciting hatred after posting an anti-Muslim video on YouTube. He also pleaded guilty in the same year to criminal harassment, in relation to his threatening and encouraging his followers to doxx an Alberta Health Services employee working on the public health response to COVID-19. 

He has been convicted of civil contempt and charged numerous times after flouting COVID-19 public health guidelines and encouraging others to do the same. 

In a video Boothby posted on Twitter, Johnston can be seen filming the journalist and following her as she asks him to leave her alone and tries to walk away. 

“You are a left-wing piece of dirt,” Johnston can be heard saying in the video. “Why don’t you leave these people alone?” 

In a video posted by Johnston, he can be seen running up to Boothby, shouting at her and accusing her of filming the license plates of people leaving the church.