VANCOUVER — Police in Vancouver are investigating after a recurrence of last year's viral phenomenon that saw hecklers interrupt live television reports to yell sexually explicit remarks into reporters' microphones.
CTV reporter Sarah MacDonald filed a complaint with the Vancouver Police Department over an incident that took place in the city's downtown around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday.
MacDonald was reporting on a group of Pokemon Go players that had gathered in Robson Square when a man stepped beside her and uttered a vulgarity while appearing to record the episode with his cellphone.
CTV British Columbia news director Les Staff condemned the incident.
Know this guy who harassed @CTVSarah while she was doing her job tonight? Let him know he can crawl down a toilet. pic.twitter.com/RNsB1WwsSp
— Stephanie Ip (@stephanie_ip) July 22, 2016
"We are appalled by the behaviour," he said in an interview. "We had hoped this social sensation had died down, and to see it rearing its ugly head makes us sad."
During Thursday's incident, MacDonald's ear piece was also ripped off her blazer and out of her ear as the unidentified man hurriedly left.
This is how you deal with a mental midget fuckwit on live TV: a good swift swat. Don't mess with @CTVSarah pic.twitter.com/bWlH4sc4JE
— Mike Usinger (@MikeUsinger) July 22, 2016
When confronted by MacDonald's cameraman a few moments later, he said he had taken the video for Snapchat.
Vancouver police spokesman Randy Fincham said that while jumping in front of the camera isn't a criminal offence in itself, assault is.
"If you go to the length of assaulting a cameraperson (or) a reporter, then criminal charges — if they're appropriate — we will look at that," he said.
The lewd trend has plagued journalists, predominately women, in recent years.
A Toronto engineer was fired from Ontario's largest electricity provider in May 2015 after he was identified taunting a reporter outside a soccer stadium. Hydro One later reinstated him following an arbitration process.
Police forces across the country have taken different approaches to addressing the problem.
Toronto police indicated they wouldn't pursue charges in the instance of the Hydro One employee, while in Calgary, officers charged a man with a traffic offence after he accosted a CBC journalist with the same obscenity from his vehicle.
