Member of the military under investigation after speaking at Toronto anti-mask rally
Anti-lockdown rallies have still been taking place weekly in Toronto, and have hosted some of the same recognizable faces time after time, such as prominent anti-masker Chris Sky (both before and after he was arrested for breaking federal Quarantine rules).
But there's one attendee of the most recent demonstration, which started off at Yonge Dundas Square on Saturday, that is drawing a lot of attention — including that of his employer, which happens to be the Canadian Forces.
Leslie Kenderesi identified himself while speaking to the crowd maskless in his army ensemble, advising his peers not to partake in the federal government's plan to have the military distribute the COVID-19 vaccine through Operation Vector.
He went as far as espousing anti-vax sentiments, calling the immunization a "killer" and its dissemination to the public "criminal."
Leslie Kenderesi, a serving member of 🇨🇦 Forces, questions safety of the vaccine. Speaking at a rally,
— I Am Canadian 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 (@_I_Am_Canadian) December 9, 2020
“I’m asking military serving right now, truck drivers, medical, engineers, whatever you are, don’t take this unlawful order for distribution of this vaccine.”#cdnpoli #onpoli https://t.co/mR5GRlPFqo
"General [Rick] Hillier is going to be working with the Canadian government to distribute this killer vaccine. I have to call it [that], the reason is because nobody knows what this vaccine will do to your body," Kenderesi said in full uniform.
"It could infect your body next month, in five years, in ten years, nobody knows. For us to take the vaccine, I think it's criminal."
Viewers watching from the crowd, meanwhile, can be heard saying "exactly!" and "why the hell would you [take it]?" in footage of the speech, during which Kenderesi outright asked his peers in the military, as well as anyone else potentially involved in the inocoluation's distribution, to defy the "unlawful order" to do so from the government.
He went on to deem the vaccine a domestic threat from which members of the military should be protecting the public, and aptly noted that he "might get in a lot of shit for doing this, but I don't care anymore."
“Organizers of the anti-lockdown rally claimed Kenderesi had served in a variety of units and was qualified as a tank driver, machine-gunner and was skilled in hand-to-hand combat.” - so another person with no medical or scientific background advising against masks and vaccines🙄
— Mike P (@MPencington) December 9, 2020
Hopefully that statement about not caring is true, because he's now under investigation, the Department of National Defence confirmed to the National Post, adding that the statements by Kenderesi, who is a tenured member of the Cadet Instructors Cadre, a subset of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve, are "not reflective of views of the Government of Canada or Canadian Armed Forces policy."
As the CBC notes, there are indeed regulations for those who serve in the military full-time that forbid them from publicly criticizing the government.
Whether Kenderesi will face punishment and what that punishment might be have still yet to be determined.
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