When Mohamad Fakih opened his restaurant’s doors to a Liberal Party fundraiser last July, some uninvited guests showed up: Kevin Johnston and Ranendra “Ron” Banerjee, two men who have become fixtures at anti-Islam rallies across the GTA. In videos posted online, they stood outside Fakih’s restaurant Paramount Fine Foods and suggested it was a “nefarious” business that only served customers who are “jihadist” or “raped your wife at least a few times.”

Fakih sued for defamation; Johnston and Banerjee wrote in their defence statements that they were exercising their freedom of expression and raising issues of public interest — namely, their objection to the federal government’s $10.5 million settlement paid to Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr.

But before the case has even gone to trial, a Superior Court of Justice judge has already delivered a preliminary victory for Fakih, ruling Banerjee’s videotaped comments “involve hallmarks of hate” and do not relate to a matter of public interest.

This also means his statements are unprotected by a 2015 Ontario law designed to stop nuisance lawsuits aimed at silencing free expression over matters of public interest. Banerjee invoked the law to try to quash the suit but the judge ruled that allowing him to justify his comments by claiming public interest would be “trivializing” the law’s objectives.