Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale says he felt frightened during an altercation with Toronto Mayor Rob Ford outside the mayor's Etobicoke home Wednesday evening.
Speaking to reporters for the first time since the mayor chased Dale away outside the Ford residence, Dale said he was on public property researching a story about a piece of land the Fords hope to purchase from the regional conservation authority.
Dale said he was behind the Ford house, on public property, and had taken a picture of some trees on the parkland with his BlackBerry, when the mayor came out of his home and began shouting.
"The mayor continued to approach, he seemed unhappy, sort of at a brisk walk, and then, at some point, he changed into sort of a run. He charged with a fist cocked at his head, as if he wanted to punch me," Dale said.
Dale said he yelled for help, something a neighbour has confirmed, and that his instinct was to run away as the much-larger mayor approached him.
"I was frightened," Dale said. "The mayor seemed extremely agitated. I've never been in a fight in my life. I've never had a confrontation with a politician."
For his part, the mayor told CP24 earlier in the day that he would like to see the Toronto Star urban affairs reporter charged after the confrontation, claiming the newspaper hounds his family and invades his private affairs.
"What are you doing? Are you looking at my kids? Is something wrong here?" Ford asked in an interview with CP24 on Thursday.
"I am here to protect the neighbourhood and I'm not going to have any person, regardless who they are, doing a Peeping Tom -- especially Daniel Dale from the Toronto Star."
Dale, however, maintained that he did nothing wrong and he also disputed Ford's accusation that he was standing on cinder blocks and was trying to peer into the Ford family home.
"I never did that. I never saw cinder blocks on this public parcel of land," said Dale.
Dale made his comments to reporters after being questioned by police at 22 Division Thursday afternoon about the incident.
Police said Thursday that they had not laid any charges in the case.
During a morning interview on AM640, Ford said he would refuse to speak with reporters if Dale – a city hall reporter – remained a part of the media scrum.
Dale told reporters Thursday that he would continue to report for the Toronto Star and that he hoped the mayor and his staff would behave respectfully, just as he planned to do.
The incident prompting heated words between the Star and the mayor began Wednesday when police responded to a trespassing call at Ford's residence at about 8 p.m.
According to Ford, a neighbour alerted the mayor that a man was near his property and he went out to investigate.
Ford alleged Thursday that he saw the reporter standing on cinder blocks near his property and looking into his backyard.
When he was confronted, Ford said the reporter dropped his phone and tape recorder and ran away. Dale agreed that he did, indeed, drop his BlackBerry and run from the mayor, saying he felt scared.
The Star reported that Dale's phone appeared to have been used 45 minutes after the reporter left it behind, saying it had obtained phone records for the BlackBerry.
Bob Hepburn, spokesperson for the Star, confirmed that Dale was in the area, but said he was on public land, and was reporting on a story about a piece of land next to the Ford family home that the Fords wanted to purchase.
"Like any good reporter, Daniel Dale wanted to go out and see the actual property," Hepburn told CTV News Channel on Thursday. "He went out into the park, which is adjacent to Mayor Ford's home to look at the property, to shoot a photo of the property in question. At no time was he on the property, and at no time was he trespassing."
The incident is the latest in a series of tense interactions and hostile accusations exchanged between the two parties since the right-leaning Ford was elected mayor in 2010.
Ford has refused to speak with Star reporters since they published an article in 2010 concerning his conduct as a football coach.
On Thursday, Ford accused the Toronto Star of targeting his family and personal life because they do not agree with his politics, alleging that the newspaper lies about how often they follow him around.
"The Toronto Star follows me around, they lie that they don't follow me around when they do," Ford said.
"They follow me out to Huntsville and sit in our bushes at our cottage. They say they don't follow my mom when they did. The made up football allegations, they made up football stories.
"They don't like the way I'm running city hall."
Hepburn disagreed, and said Dale was on public land, covering a legitimate story.
"He was not spying. We were not harassing, spying or stalking the mayor or his family," Hepburn told CTV News Channel. "We have not stalked or harassed the mayor throughout his term."
