Noted anti-vaxxer arrested at Whitby childrens’ vaccine clinic

“Have you investigated the crime going on inside?” a woman asks police, shortly before her arrest on December 2 for trespassing on private property outside a children’s vaccine clinic in Whitby.

The woman, Jody Legerwood, was a once Cobourg realtor before her anti-vax activism. It’s unclear if she has been fired or resigned from the local board. She has since become an infamous face from the anti-vax community, crashing news broadcasts in Toronto and attempting to storm Brampton City Hall among other protests.

Jody Ledgerwood interrupted @cristina_CP24 while she was doing a live segment on television, then proceeded to accuse the reporter of not doing her job.

This is alarming. #cdnpoli #antivaxxers pic.twitter.com/o7IQ5z81e1

— Caryma Sa'd – Lawyer + Political Satirist (@CarymaRules) November 18, 2021

She is consistently known to spew misinformation about vaccines at these events, such as “how young athletes have dropped dead with myocarditis” as a result of the vaccine. The answer is none, of course, but that doesn’t stop Legerwood.

Of the more than 11 million vaccinated Ontarians, fewer than 300 have been diagnosed with myocarditis or pericarditis following their vaccination. Over 10,000 Ontarians have died of COVID-19.

#antivaxxer protestors led by Jody Ledgerwood enter Brampton City Hall to yell at Patrick Brown. This is more than likely a response to vaccine eligibility being opened to 5-11 year olds.

Jody was recently sleeping in Peterburgers restaurant. #brampton #ont pic.twitter.com/dwu3DJiuJ2

— Johnny Fondue (@Eatsfood2) November 24, 2021

She repeated questions in her Whitby protest, asking them of children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old and their parents as they walked into the Kid’s Vaccine Clinic on 4160 Baldwin Street.

Ledgerwood can be seen in a video on her Facebook page camped directly in front of the door to the clinic in a nearly hour-long tirade of misinformation. She is away from a somewhat larger group of five to 10 protesters being kept back by police.

It’s this separation that led police to arrest Ledgerwood. Durham Police spokesperson Jodi MacLean, a DRPS spokesperson, said officers directed the protesters to gather at a designated area of the parking lot to “keep the pathway and doorway clear to the clinic” to ensure patients could enter the clinic while still allowing the protests.

In the video, DRPS officer French approaches Ledgerwood and tells her to go over to the designated protest area. She responds that she is not protesting, but “giving information.”

After sleeping in Peterburgers, then bursting past security at Brampton City Hall, Jody Ledgerwood gets arrested at the Covid vaccine clinic for 5-11 year olds in Whitby #whitby #ont #antivaxxers pic.twitter.com/AfhS8oO1hM

— Johnny Fondue (@Eatsfood2) December 2, 2021

She then claims to be on public property. She wasn’t. The plaza, and thus the parking lot, is owned by SmartCentres REIT, who said in a statement after Ledgerwood’s arrest that they have authorized police to “remove disruptive protesters from our properties in the future, should they choose to return.”

SmartCentres, the statement continued, are “supporting vaccination clinics across Canada” and offering available space for free to public health authorities.

“What occurred last night is unacceptable. We’re taking action to ensure it does not happen in the future.”

Officer French can be heard warning Ledgerwood multiple times that she is trespassing. After refusing to leave, and insisting French investigate “the crime” inside, Ledgerwood was arrested for her own.

Ledgerwood was ultimately ticketed under the Provincial Offences Act and released.