Alleged Threats, Assault of Police from Chris Sky Were Not Out of Left Field
Canadian anti-masker Chris Sky has demonstrated a long pattern of violent rhetoric, including but not limited to allegations against police officers.
On Thursday Toronto Police arrested Chris Saccoccia, better known as Chris Sky, and charged him with the following:
1. Three counts of Utter Death Threat
2. Assault Peace Officer with a Weapon
3. Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance
Saccoccia first issued threats on May 12. When police first went to his house on Wednesday, May 19, he tried driving in to one of them with his car. He was not apprehended at the time, but rather turned himself in the following day. He was released on bail on Friday.
In a vlog filmed after his release, Saccoccia told followers that he was “framed” and that he’s prohibited from contacting his former friend, far-right political ally Rob Carbone, as part of his bail conditions. Zeeshan Ahmad, who posted Saccoccia’s bail, said in a separate video that he’s not permitted to drive.
People following the story have expressed outrage not just at Saccoccia’s actions, but at how light-handed they perceived his treatment by Toronto Police.
As shocking as Saccoccia’s recent actions may have been, however, they were merely the latest escalation of his behaviour, not an outlier.
In the past, Saccoccia has threatened Toronto police officers, accused some of assaulting and even attempting to kidnap him, expressed fantasies of shooting trespassers, and wholeheartedly endorsed instances of far-right violence.
A Fractured Bromance
Zeeshan Ahmad, a follower of Saccoccia’s, posted his bail, a fact made abundantly evident by the fact that Ahmad publicly posted a screen capture a voice recording of the bail hearing in Saccoccia’s public telegram channel.
Ahmad has since deleted both the screen capture, which showed the faces of all others involved in the hearing, and his audio recording. Non-consensual recording and public distribution of bail hearings is illegal under Canada’s Courts of Justice Act.
When Saccoccia requisitioned his Telegram channel for a driver to escort him on a last minute 10 day road trip, Ahmad only took four minutes to offer his time. The two have since been on a road trip together to cover some of Saccoccia’s public speaking appearances, during which Ahmad stated that Saccoccia would not be driving as a result of his bail conditions.
The victims of Saccoccia’s alleged threats are not confirmed, but a dialogue that Saccoccia’s close friend, far-right personality Rob Carbone, was either a victim of Saccoccia’s threats or the one who reported him to police have been spreading in the wake of the arrest. The story that Saccoccia and his allies have been sharing to their social media followers does not paint a clear picture, but Saccoccia said in a video recording that one of his bail conditions was that he was not allowed to contact Carbone.
Kelly-Anne Farkus, an anti-mask influencer and close associate of Saccoccia’s who often goes by Kellyn-Anne Wolfe, did not mince words when accusing Carbone of being responsible for the arrest. Farkus also claimed that Carbone owed $4800 for costs relating to producing his campaign merchandise.
Carbone denied Farkus’ allegations in an Instagram comment before deleting his Instagram account. He has yet to speak publicly about the incident, but told Vice news in a text message that “this could go very badly for Chris.”
Back the Blue… Sometimes
At a glance, Saccoccia’s history with police might resemble a love-hate relationship. A closer look reveals something only slightly more complicated.
Last August, Saccoccia made headlines for being endorsed by the Toronto Police Service 51st Division’s Neighbourhood Watch Instagram. The two officers who photographed themselves with him and posted about their support for his activism were investigated and the post was removed. It turns out that official police channels aren’t supposed to be used for platforming career conspiracy theorists who blame paedophilia on the Jews.
Although it’s rare for official police channels to support the movement, it’s not uncommon for individual officers to. Constable Brian Lashbrook of Calgary Police Services was investigated in October for his refusal to follow mask mandates while on shift inside Calgary’s Chinook mall. Lashbrook also voiced opposition to private businesses enforcing mask mandates.
Four months later in the same mall, another officer was investigated for shaking hands engaging in friendly banter with an anti-mask protest attended by Artur Pawlowski, a far-right pastor with ties to hate groups.
In April, Peel Region Police Officer Sargent Paul Brown defended the actions of an anti-mask demonstrator pretending to speak in tongues in the face of a Global News reporter. He proceeded to intimidate the reporter and was briefly suspended with pay as a result of his actions.
Over 100 active and retired law enforcement officials and Canadian Armed Forces members have joined Police On Guard for Thee, an anti-lockdown group with ties to anti-mask and anti-vaccine conspiracy theory groups. Its members include founder Vincent Gircy’s, who spoke alongside David Icke in January, and conspiracy theorist Mark Friesen, a former Correctional Services Officer who’s promoted white nationalists. Friesen is currently running as a People’s Party of Canada candidate for Member of Parliament for Saskatoon-Grasswood.
Saccoccia himself speaks about his support for the police. But, far more often, he’s interested in speaking about their support for him. He’s joked that he was a celebrity for being recognized by police, and told several stories of getting softer treatment by police because of officers secretly being fans of his. Saccoccia described an officer who helped kick him out of a restaurant in Kelowna and was photographed shaking his hand as an example of “community solidarity”, but both Kelowna Police and eyewitnesses denied this.
Despite all of Saccoccia’s public support for “backing the blue”, his actions towards police officers doing their jobs have been less than enthusiastic.
Last October, Sky was arrested for causing a public disturbance on an airplane in Moncton. He filmed himself accusing the arresting officer of assault and told him “you wanna touch me again, go for it.”
On March 18, Saccoccia was issued summons by Toronto police. Upon their arrival he retreated to his car where he livestreamed himself claiming that the police were there to “do something shady”. He told his followers: “If they try to plant something in my car, I’ll fucking kill them.” After pausing, he added “with a lawyer”.
Two weeks later, Saccoccia invoked the catch phrase “back the blue” and spoke in favour of supporting the police while guest hosting The Alex Jones Show on Infowars. Minutes later, he referred back to his summons and said that police “tried to kidnap me in the middle of the night”.
Saccoccia also has a history of expressing desires to carry out vigilante justice. In September he said “I won’t be calling the police. I will be calling you an ambulance. Don’t say you weren’t warned.” regarding trespassers on his property.
Saccoccia told followers to “choose the calibre” and indulged one commenter who said that “45 leaves a nice hole”.
Saccoccia was transparent about his openness to operate outside of legal bounds, saying “The idea that I won’t defend myself because I’m afraid of the consequences is beyond laughable. I won’t even let them find a body if somebody comes to hurt me and my family. Straight up.”
Saccoccia is a proud gun owner. He once joked that his dogs may have eaten rifle primers that he left out.
Despite the severity of his charges, Saccocia’s tone towards the police while addressing his followers remains to be pretty much the same. In a series of videos published to his Telegram channel following his release, Saccoccia told his followers the story of one officer who fawned over him while he was in jail, claiming that the officer told Saccoccia he was “in the presence of greatness”.
Saccoccia’s rhetoric towards the police resembles that of most of his rhetoric towards any other group: He supports them so long as he perceives their relationship benefiting him.
Whether It’s a Whisper or a Bang
Saccoccia has exceptional notoriety in Canada’s anti-mask movement. Few activists in the movement have managed to command the media attention that Saccoccia has garnished over the last year. Although others like Pastor Artur Pawlowski and Pastor James Coates have warranted attention from the mainstream right enough for their stories to be made into culture war battles on Fox News, Saccoccia is the really the only non-religious figure to reach his level of prominence in the movement from relative obscurity. Comparable egos in the movement like Kevin J. Johnston and Randy Hillier had name recognition in far-right politics long before the Covid-19 pandemic. Saccoccia is the biggest celebrity to emerge from Canada’s far right that was solely positioned as an anti-mask martyr.
The media’s hyper-focus on Saccoccia is a double-edged sword, and has been a touchy subject to sects of the movement. The Line in particular, once Canada’s largest anti-lockdown organization, has tried to at least appear to distance themselves from the openly racist messaging common among their former partners.
It is beyond doubt that Saccoccia’s brand is representative of large swaths of Canada’s loosely-knit conspiracy theory crowds. He is incredible popular, his fan base is loyal, and although his views do not reflect everyone’s, most core beliefs reflect a majority. The most controversial of his messaging — invocations of The Great Replacement Theory, racial IQ theory, Holocaust denialism, and Hitler apologism to name a few — are, at best ignored, and at worst embraced by the vast majority of Canada’s anti-mask, anti-lockdown, and anti-vaccine groups.
But make no mistake, that’s not to say that he’s bigger than the movement. He isn’t. Whether the movement persists as an anti-vaccine political movement larger than Canada has ever seen, or if it slowly but loudly fades into obscurity, its fate is larger than Saccoccia’s.
Rob Carbone did not respond to a request for comment.
This article is part of an ongoing series about the spread of the alt-right in Canada in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Check out my Medium page for previous entries.
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