Calgary mayoral candidate arrested following weekend incident at shopping centre

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — A man running to be the mayor of Calgary was arrested for the second time after an arrest warrant was issued for him in relation to being part of an illegal public gathering.

Edmonton Police arrested 49-year-old Kevin J. Johnston Wednesday afternoon for his part in an incident at the CORE Shopping Centre downtown in Calgary over the weekend.

On Saturday, police said several store employees reported significant safety concerns following multiple altercations with Johnston.

Employees alleged Johnston entered several stores at the shopping centre while not wearing a face mask.

Upon approaching and asking him to put on a mask, Johnston allegedly hurled verbal abuse at the employees before leaving the stores.

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A short time after, Johnston would return with other people, all of whom also refused to wear masks, and joined in a verbal confrontation with store employees while live streaming the incident.

In some instances, employees were young people working alone or with just one other person.

Johnston was arrested on one criminal code warrant for causing a disturbance and for being part of an illegal public gathering.

Calgary police said they will continue to investigate the other individuals who participated in the confrontations with the store employees.