Toronto police charge owner of Sam James Coffee Bar with assault and two counts of mischief for spitting and throwing coffee on protesters

Owner of the trendy Same James Coffee Bar on Harbord St. in Toronto

Demonstrators near Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto were reportedly assaulted this week.

At about noon, a man wearing a black toque and fleece (and later identified as the owner of Sam James Coffee Bar) took exception to the protestors, spitting on one, according to the police report.

The man then went to a nearby shop, obtained coffee, and returned with a woman, who was also holding a cup of coffee.

They approached the protesters and threw their hot drinks at them, hitting and damaging some of the signs, police say.

Photo from the Torontoist

The man was apparently a bit slow on the uptake but eventually realized that he was being filmed. He then reportedly assaulted the protester who was filming the incident, trying to grab the camera.

Detective Jospeh Matys of the Toronto Police Service told reporters that no one was hurt during the assault.

“The group’s signs luckily took most of the damage,” he said.

Photo of suspects issued by police

Footage of the event reportedly captures the man going face to face with each demonstrator, shouting, “F--k you!”

Reportedly friends of the man drove up in a white van, forcibly seized the protest signs, and proceeded to load them into the van.

When the would-be thieves realized they were in the 21^st Century and were, of course, being filmed, they threw the signs out of the van and drove away, but not before stomping on the signs and destroying five of them. 

A protester captured the van’s license plate on film. A rumour says it was a vanity plate reading either THUG or IDIOT, possibly both.