WARMINGTON: This was one protest message Toronto Police responded to quickly

Toronto Police don’t always react quickly to protests signs calling for a global intifada on Jews, but they responded instantly to a protest video about their Chief and top lawyer.

And police contend the Rebel News organization’s electronic billboard truck flashing a photograph of Toronto Police lawyer Falguni Debnath in front of their headquarters on Thursday is a “direct result” of a Toronto Sun column about the radio battle between Mayor Olivia Chow and Chief Myron Demkiw.

Toronto Police media spokesperson Stephanie Sayer sent an email to Toronto Sun Editor-in-Chief Adrienne Batra saying: “Attached is a photo taken today outside TPS headquarters. A Rebel vehicle is driving around with a billboard showing our General Counsel’s name and face. This is the direct result of Joe’s reporting remaining uncorrected.”

The reporting Sayer references is a Wednesday column covering back-to-back interviews that Mayor Olivia Chow and Chief Myron Demkiw did on Newstalk 1010 with John Moore this week – in the wake of the deadly Bondi Beach pogrom.

It has developed into a real ‘He said, She said’ political drama.

Monday on 1010, Chow said: “The Chief has communicated to me, as you know I can’t direct the Chief in terms of operation but we can set policy, and the Chief has been saying they have made charges and then it gets thrown quote by the crown and they won’t even accept it.”

Chow added: “So you do all the work to do all the charges, yet it doesn’t go anywhere – so at some point they said – they have a lawyer at the police headquarters to look at cases – okay, there’s no hope of you getting anywhere, so don’t bother, which is why sometimes they don’t do charges.”

On Tuesday, Demkiw told Moore: “I do not know where she’s getting that narrative” and, “Yeah, well, we did have a discussion, but it was (not the way is has been) framed. No there is not. We base our grounds on reasonable grounds. We consult. Obviously, we have to make discretionary decisions on the amount of evidence we have. The crown attorneys guide us on the prospect of conviction.”

It would be interesting to see if the truck had messaging of “from the river to the sea” or “intifada revolution” would police have reacted with such haste.

Reporting on this and explaining who the General Counsel is at HQ has upset police.

Thursday’s email to Batra came two days after Sayer wrote other emails demanding a retraction of the column.

“Our General Counsel has not provided advice on any criminal prosecution whatsoever, including the laying or non-laying of hate-crime charges. She does not direct, influence, or advise on charging decisions. Full stop,” she wrote. “Publishing her name and photograph in connection with this false narrative is irresponsible, misleading, and harmful.”

Saying, “Your reporting is wrong,” she added, “We expect the following actions immediately: A clear and prominent correction removing any reference, direct or implied, to our General Counsel providing advice on criminal charging decisions; Removal of her name and image from the article; and An acknowledgment that the assertion was inaccurate.”

Sayer then threatened, “Failure to correct the record promptly will leave us no choice but to consider further steps to address the reputational harm caused.”

Sayer is not a police officer or a lawyer and there has been no explanation of what “further steps” means. But in my 40 years as a reporter and columnist, I have never received anything like this from a media officer.

The Toronto Sun has never inferred a lawyer at HQ was involved in reviewing cases – it was Chow who said that. The Toronto Sun does not know who Chow was referring to but our initial column speculated the Mayor could be referring to Falguni Debnath, who is TPS General Counsel.

The battle of words between the Mayor and the Chief were covered based on what they said on Newstalk 1010. And the profile information about Debnath, and her photograph, came from the Toronto Police website.

It’s curious why police are so angry and going to unconstitutional measures by demanding a news story be removed from a free press. It’s also unusual to blame one media company for what another news outlet is doing. Rebel News has no affiliation with the Toronto Sun.

Their billboard truck – which broadcast photographs of Debnath, Demkiw and Chow over a script that read, “Hamas Jihadis are terrorizing Toronto’s Streets, but the Toronto Police are missing in Action. Why won’t they arrest these criminals. Is it because of Falguni Debnath?” – is only being covered in the Sun today because of Sayer’s email blaming the original Sun story for the truck being there.

The Toronto Sun had no role in the truck deployment.

Also of note, we checked with Mayor Chow’s office to see if she has retracted her original statement on Newstalk 1010 in which she said there was a “lawyer at headquarters” who was tying the chief’s hands in terms of arresting pro-Hamas protesters in Jewish neighbourhoods.

“There is no change from us from yesterday’s statement,” Chow’s spokesperson Shirven Rezvany said. “And on the truck: The mayor continues to have confidence in Chief Demkiw.”

Sayer and Toronto Police should take up any grievances they have with the Mayor.

jwarmington@postmedia.com