Protester pleads guilty to assaulting CBC camera operator

A Coquitlam, B.C., man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a CBC camera operator at a border protest against COVID-19 restrictions in 2022.

Vojislav Zmukic pleaded guilty to one count of assault at provincial court in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday morning.

He was charged after an incident on Feb. 19, 2022, near 8 Avenue and 176 Street in Surrey, around 1.5 kilometres north of the Pacific Highway border crossing, where several journalists reported being swarmed by crowds that had gathered to protest against COVID-19 measures.

Anger over vaccine mandates and other restrictions had set off protests across the country, including on the streets around Parliament Hill in Ottawa, at the Coutts border crossing in Alberta, and at the Surrey border crossing.

Surrey RCMP said at the time that police officers were looking into several incidents that occurred during a series of weekend protests at the border.

Zmukic's sentencing date will be determined on July 5.

Protesters blocked the intersection of 8 Avenue and 176 Street leading to the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey, B.C., in February 2022. (Janella Hamilton/CBC)