The 'Brantford Boomer' is going viral — what really happened?

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.

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."

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."