An image of a retired Liberal supporter looking into a camera and giving the middle finger with both hands has gone viral — especially in right-wing social media circles — as the “Brantford Boomer.”
The brief interaction between the supporter and a cameraperson was just one of many confrontational moments that took place earlier this month between people in line to attend a rally for Liberal Leader Mark Carney in Brantford, Ont., and people there to protest it. In the hour or so before the event, there were several more uses of the middle finger, terse exchanges between rally attendees and protesters who shouted slurs and repeated conspiracy theories.
But it was double bird gesture that inspired countless memes, spinoffs (like a parody X account) and expressions of outrage, including one reaction that notes the photo “will define this Canadian election.” Matt Janes, the subject of the photo, told CBC News that while he regrets his actions, he also rejects the implication his gesture symbolized apathy toward the concerns of younger Canadians when he was reacting to the cameraperson and protesters he says were antagonizing people there for the rally.
The image was first posted by Caryma Sa’d, a lawyer and political satirist who often covers protests and political events. A cameraperson who works with Sa’d captured the moment.
CBC’s visual investigations team reviewed all the social media footage that led this Liberal supporter to bust out the double bird.
Social media users quickly discovered Janes’ identity and posted it online. As a result of the outrage and attention he received, Janes deleted his Facebook page. It also prompted a brewery where he was once part owner to release a statement noting that he’d left the business in 2022.
“It’s been a week from hell, it’s taken over my life,” Janes told CBC News London in an interview this week.
“I’m just a normal, regular person,” he said. “I reacted in the moment and it’s just been blown way out of proportion.”
Protesters, rally attendees exchange words
The CBC News visual investigations team reviewed and verified other social media footage from the April 18 event to help determine what led up to the roughly 30-second interaction that has gone viral.
Many of the protesters in attendance were wearing clothing and gear supporting Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre or held anti-Liberal accessories, including a “F–k Carney” flag.
The two sides were kept apart by security and segregated to opposite sides of a driveway leading into the event venue — a Brantford brewery.
Social media footage shows protesters used megaphones to yell a series of vulgar slogans. They called Liberal politicians and their supporters “pedophiles,” and “pedo-lovers,” used homophobic slurs and linked Carney to convicted sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
One protester said Carney was “here to liquidate Canada.”
In several instances over the course of the hour, people from both sides approached one another to exchange words before being separated by security guards.
Liberal supporters also yelled back at the protesters. Some supporters said the protesters were out of shape, or uneducated. One Liberal supporter told protesters to “move out of their parents’ basement.”
Over the course of roughly an hour ahead of the event, a number of Liberal supporters can also be seen showing their middle finger to the protesters.
Violent language used during protest
Some of the language was more violent. In one instance, a protester says “If anyone throws a shot, they’re going the f–k down.” At one point, one man from a separate area across the street approaches protesters and tells them to get off his street. One protester urges the man to hit him.
In another instance, a protester tells a Liberal supporter giving him the finger to back away or “I’ll get the wirecutters and take that finger off.”
The incident with Janes actually occurs after much of the crowd has already entered the venue.
The interaction can be seen from an alternative angle, in video posted on social media. There does not appear to be significant interaction between the cameraperson and Janes prior to the gesture, though it’s not possible to hear the audio.
In a video of the event shared by Sa’d and first shown publicly on Alberta-based talk show Real Talk with Ryan Jespersen, Janes can be heard saying to the cameraperson that the gesture is “for you,” and the cameraperson reacts with confusion.
There are roughly 10 seconds between when the gesture is first seen on the alternative angle and the beginning of the video shared by Sa’d — it’s unclear what takes place during that time.
What is clear from the video is that Janes and the woman he appears to be accompanying do not know who the cameraperson is and assume he is from a right-wing media outlet. The cameraman says that he’s an independent journalist.
“Independent? Just like Rebel News and True North,” the woman says in the video.
The cameraperson calls Sa’d to come talk to the couple, but Janes says he does not wish to talk, then turns his back.
The alternative angle shows the couple continuing along with the line into the event while the cameraperson remains standing in place.
Janes told CBC News that the idea that has grown out of his gesture — of an older generation putting down a younger one — is not what he intended.
“That’s totally false and that’s totally wrong … It was really just giving the finger to this cameraman and those protesters that were harassing us — regular people who were in line to see our prime minister speak.”
