Calgary police probe assault of RED FM news director

Police say they are investigating an assault on a Calgary radio host in the city's northeast.

RED FM, a South Asian radio station based in Calgary, issued a release Monday that said news director and host Rishi Nagar had been assaulted on Sunday.

Calgary police confirmed they are investigating the attack outside the Rio Banquet Hall, located in the 2800 block of Hopewell Place N.E., adding they're looking for two suspects.

Staff Sgt. John Guigon said Nagar was struck in the head but was not seriously hurt, and that the incident was captured on video.

"It was not a pleasant situation," he said.

"[It is] particularly troubling to us when a member of the media gets attacked in a democracy.... We're throwing resources at it."

Guigon said police are investigating whether the assault on Nagar is connected to his reporting on another incident last week outside the Dashmesh Culture Centre, located in the 100 block of Gurdwara Sahib Boulevard N.E.

At around 8 p.m. on Sept. 24, Guigon said, police received multiple calls from citizens indicating there were two men brandishing guns in the centre's parking lot.

He said after police arrived two men were arrested and two firearms were recovered. The pair face multiple charges, he said.

Rishi Nagar is the news director at RED FM, a South Asian radio station based in Calgary. He said the assault on him won't silence or prevent him and his colleagues from continuing their work as journalists. (Submitted/Rishi Nagar)

Nagar is a former University of Calgary senator and a former member of the Calgary Police Service's Anti-Racism Action Committee.

Nagar, who spoke to media on Tuesday with bandages over one eye, called the incident a "clear attack on journalism and the free press."

He said the assault won't silence or prevent him and his colleagues from continuing their work as journalists.

"They can break my eye, not my resolve," Nagar said on Tuesday.

Nagar added that doctors have told him he's at risk for retinal detachment and choroidal rupture, after the incident.