Ottawa, Canada — Ottawa journalist Chris Dacey has been documenting what he calls “performative prayer” for years: public displays of Islamic ritual staged not as private worship, but as political acts of intimidation and control. Since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, Dacey says these demonstrations have become more frequent, more aggressive, and more openly tied to the destruction of Western nation-states.
Protest or Power Play?
One early incident stood out to Dacey outside Ottawa Police Headquarters.
“There was a protest, and in front of Ottawa police headquarters, they shut down the street to pray. Elgin Street is closed in both directions… They’re demanding the release of their comrades who were arrested earlier today. They say they’re not going anywhere until everyone is released.”
As he filmed, demonstrators confronted him and told him it was “not appropriate to film.” For Dacey, the hypocrisy was glaring:
“It’s not appropriate to film this, but it is appropriate to close the street demanding the release of people who were arrested earlier today.”
Parliament Hill Occupied
A more dramatic display followed on Parliament Hill. “It was a Friday night… Wellington Street and Metcalf Street are right sandwiched between the Prime Minister’s Office and Parliament Hill. The entire street was blocked for what I would call performative prayer,” Dacey said.
The symbolism was unmistakable: Canada’s most important civic and political space was turned into an open-air stage for submission, enforced by street closures and prayer lines.
Journalist Targeted and Assaulted
Dacey, who regularly films these events, described being harassed, followed, and even physically attacked while documenting them.
“I stayed quite a bit back… I had members of that march harassing me, intimidating, following me. These guys here have been cautioned three or four times by the police. I am now hundreds of feet ahead of the protest… and now they’re coming to me continuously, following me when they’ve been told not to multiple times,” he said.
Despite repeated police warnings to stop, the intimidation escalated. “I’ve been threatened for a lot less than this… I stepped 300 feet away. This guy’s been cautioned multiple times by multiple officers to stop following me. I’ve completely complied with things that I think are even unreasonable, and this guy now follows me 500 feet away [from the protest]… He was told to stay five feet away directly.”
The harassment turned violent. “He just drilled me with the flag right in the head,” Dacey reported. “They’ve now also assaulted me… Ottawa police, I would say, at least six different officers intervened to stop this person at different times. A staff sergeant in charge ordered him to stay five feet away from me. He didn’t comply with any of these orders and continued to harass me the entire time.”
Yet even then, Dacey said, police pressure fell not on the attackers, but on him. “What their go-to is, is to take the path of least resistance and try to remove me… I’ve been physically moved. I’ve been threatened with arrest.”
Prayer as a Weapon
Why block public streets when Ottawa has many mosques? “It’s to establish dominance, to show that they can… that they can close the street down, that they can pray, and no one can say or do a thing about it,” Dacey explained. He added that in his experience, those who film risk being attacked — and too often, police take the path of least resistance by targeting the journalist instead of the aggressors.
He added that similar displays are staged across the country. “I think it’s Notre Dame, the most famous basilica in Montreal. It also happens regularly in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto… in front of Ottawa Police Headquarters, in front of the Israeli Embassy. It happens regularly.”
Islamic Supremacists and Communists in Alliance
The coalition behind these demonstrations is broad, Dacey explained. “As the protests get smaller, you get the more extremist of all groups. So I would call them Islamists, perhaps. Then you would have Antifa, black bloc-type people, Antifa-adjacent public service unions like CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) and PSAC (Public Service Alliance of Canada). And then at least three identifiable sets of communists: the Communist Party of Canada, another faction, and a youth communist wing that’s been showing up with ‘NATO, get out of NATO’ type of signs.”
In larger demonstrations, Muslims may form the majority. But across the spectrum, the alliance between Islamist groups and radical leftist factions is consistent.
Beyond Israel: The West in Their Sights
For Dacey, the objective is far broader than Israel or Gaza. “I don’t see it stopping, no matter what. The demands are, I guess, the destruction of Israel for now. But even if Israel put down their arms… they wouldn’t stop here. Because the goal is not the stated goal. The goal is chaos and the destruction of the West.”
He has seen the rhetoric firsthand. “They were shutting down major thoroughfares in downtown Ottawa, closing down the heart of the tourist area in the ByWard Market, screaming, you know, ‘Shut it down. Shut it down. No peace on stolen land. You won’t get no peace.’”
The targets are not limited to Israel. “I’ve been present when they shouted ‘Death to the USA’… Everyone’s a target. All of our history, all of our institutions, everything that Canada was built on is a target,” he warned.
A Warning for Canada
Dacey emphasizes that he is not debating theology or geopolitics; he is documenting a visible attack on Canada’s civic order.
“My issue is what’s going on on the streets of Canada and the attack on what I perceive to be our way of life. I see two-tiered policing. I see really, really, really bad things happening.”
Ultimately, he says, it comes down to what kind of country Canada will remain.
Dacey emphasized that his role is simply to document events as they unfold on camera. The demonstrators, however, have no interest in dialogue. Their objective, he warned, is not discussion or debate but chaos and destruction.
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