Even in his own streaming live footage, Derek Storie claims the drone was nearly hit by an aircraft.
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Far-right content creator and propagandist, Derek Storie, has been arrested outside a Calgary theatre on Tuesday for two incidents relating to improper use of a drone.
Storie is best known for his time creating videos and attending protests with the Canadian Yellow Vest Movement in 2019. He has more recently been focused on helping Kevin Johnston produce live streams and assisting in Johnston’s Calgary mayoral run.
On September 7, the Calgary Police Service arrested Storie outside of the Max Bell Theatre in Calgary, Alberta. Video from the arrest, taken by Johnston and other supporters, began after police had arrived.
Sure enough, Derek had a close encounter with a passing jet from the Calgary airport @FlyYYC
— Aunt E Pho aka Jane Po-Haw (@JaneQCitizen) September 7, 2021
Bonus cameo from someone who says “the only thing I’ve been injected with is the Holy Spirit.” 6/10 pic.twitter.com/SWG6iDbiAH
Storie is facing three charges, all relating to his use of a drone over two days. According to police, he is charged with “two counts of operate a conveyance in a manner that was dangerous to the public” and “one count of operate a remotely piloted aircraft system in such a reckless or negligent manner as to endanger or likely to endanger aviation safety,” contrary to Canadian aircraft regulations.
The charges relate to two incidents, police said. The first occurred on Monday, September 6, during which a drone was flown over McMahon Stadium during a Labour Day event. The footage related to this incident was shown by Storie on Johnston’s live stream during an interview with Hugs Over Masks founder Vladislav Sobolev.
Police added that Storie was flying his drone above crowds, higher than 400 feet, while also operating the device in “airspace occupied by the Royal Canadian Air Force.”
The second incident occurred on Tuesday, September 7, at Calgary’s City Hall and Olympic Plaza, in which the drone was in contravention of flying over crowds.
Transport Canada regulations also say drone pilots are not allowed to fly near or over advertised events, unless they have a Special Flight Operations Certificate that allows them to do so.
“You can fly your drone or UAV within the city limits in designated areas if you are not within the Control Zones,” the city website read.
During a live stream showing Storie using the drone, he comments how close it came to a plane passing overhead.
“Oh shit,” he exclaims laughing as a loud engine noise is heard through the microphone. “I hope I caught them. That was so close. I’m coming back ... I almost got hit by a jet.”
Storie first came to antifascist activist attention as he regularly appeared alongside Rick Boswick as part of the Yellow Vest protests in 2019. The pair frequently attended the explicitly anti-Muslim PEGIDA protests together, including actions that involved public burnings of the Quran.
Storie was also a participant during a violent clash between activists and anti-LGBTQ2+ protesters -- including Canadian Nationalist Party members, Yellow Vests, and hate preachers -- held in Hamilton, Ontario the same year. Sometimes referring to themselves as “Domestic War Reporters,” he and Boswick also took part in another fight that took place in Toronto’s Eaton Centre.
Previous interview subjects have included longtime Canadian neo-Nazi Paul Fromm.
10/ And Derek Storie and Ed Jamnisek, who once “interviewed” Paul Fromm. During the interview, Derek Storie actually said he’d never met a white supremacist - to Fromm. https://t.co/mOC0x7KudN pic.twitter.com/18nAxfleRO
— YVCE 🧛♂️🧛♀️🧛♂️🧛 - ARCHIVE (@VestsCanada) May 17, 2020
The pair had a falling out, which saw Storie taking his show on the road, including to participate in the harassment of an antifascist in Winnipeg alongside Proud Boy Todd Mcdougall. This path eventually landed him within Kevin Johnston’s circle.
Often tasked with shooting and serving as both an on-air producer and co-host of Johnston’s live streams, Storie -- who has claimed Indigenous heritage -- is also the alleged proprietor of “Wasted Native” Coffee, part of a variety of products initially sold under Johnston’s name.
Bearing the slogan, “forget gas, huff this,” the resulting backlash and media coverage saw the product move to be carried by Storie’s website alongside other explicitly racist names like “Mongol Madness.”
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Organizers say the protests will continue indefinitely until the tax is repealed.
The question references an attack on one of the first institutes studying gender and sexuality in the earliest days of Hitler’s rise to power.