A Facebook post has gone viral showing a man forcibly confining another man in a London, Ontario Sobey’s.

According to the Facebook post the man in red shirt is accusing the man on the hoodie for being an illegal alien and is calling the police while asking the man to provide identification.

“At my local Sobey’s , ( LONDON ONT. NORTH LONDON STORE) a man accuses the young man of being an “illegal alien” & won’t allow him to leave the store. Continues to push the young man to force him to stay in the store as he has called the police & wants the police to come to the store for the young man (while he has done absolutely nothing) .. he continues to ask if he’s scared to be deported & asked the young man to show his Canadian documentation, & tells him if he leaves the store he will conduct a “citizens arrest” on behalf of the police. 🤦🏻‍♀️ … I see a lot of comments of people wondering if he was shop lifting, he was not, he rightfully PAID for his items.” – the post commentary on Facebook page of Katie Pocasangre Montoya.

Even if the person is an immigrant, legal or illegal, is not an alien. Alien is a USA immigration term and not used in Canada.

A citizen’s arrest does not give any rights of search and/or questioning the person making the arrest. On the contrary it will provide a ticket for an arrest and/or lawsuit. 

To be eligible to make a citizen’s arrest for a crime on or in relation to property, you must be one of the following:

• the owner of the property;
• in lawful possession of the property; or
• have been authorized by the owner or the person in lawful possession of the property.

So acting as an immigration vigilante is not something anyone should do on their own. If you have concerns call the police or CBSA.