Ex-journalist admits to defacing controversial Edmonton Ukrainian monument, writing about it
Kinney admitted he rode his bike to the north Edmonton centre after midnight and sprayed the Shukhevych bust's face and plinth with anti-Nazi graffiti
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Edmonton ex-journalist Duncan Kinney has pleaded guilty to spray painting a controversial Ukrainian monument with the words “actual Nazi,” admitting he then wrote an article about the vandalism claiming an unknown party was responsible.
Kinney, the former editor of the leftwing news site Progress Report, was charged with mischief four years ago for allegedly defacing two memorials in the summer of 2021. He pleaded guilty Monday to spray painting the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex’s bust of Roman Shukhevych on Aug. 10, 2021.
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Kinney admitted he rode his bike to the north Edmonton centre after midnight, hopped a fence and sprayed the Shukhevych bust’s face and plinth with anti-Nazi graffiti. He then returned after sunrise to take photos, and emailed the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex, asking for comment and their opinion on whether Shukhevych was a Nazi.
He later published a story claiming an “unknown person or persons” had alerted Progress Report to the vandalism.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed Monday, the vandalism and its aftermath were captured on the complex’s security cameras. The video has not been entered as an exhibit, though a still photo of Kinney’s return trip to the centre has been entered into the court record.
The Shukhevych statue has a long and controversial history dating back to the 1970s. Jewish and Polish groups have called for the monument to be removed given Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist figure, collaborated with the Nazis. While some present day Ukrainians revere Shukhevych as a fighter for Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union, he has been linked to the massacre of Polish and Jewish civilians in Western Ukraine.
Some Ukrainian groups dismiss criticism of Shukhevych as misinformation used to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The other monument Kinney was accused of defacing, a memorial at St. Michael’s Cemetery to Ukrainian war dead, was spray painted with the words “Nazi monument 14th Waffen SS.” Defence lawyer Tom Engel said the Crown intends to withdraw that count at a later date.
Kinney is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 25.
Kinney was a left wing activist and journalist who frequently criticized police and the Alberta government. He repeatedly sparred with then-Edmonton Police Service chief Dale McFee, around which time EPS revoked his press credentials. Kinney also ran a satirical bid for Senate in 2021.
He also took aim at the Shukhevych statue, which had a history of being vandalized prior to August 2021. No information about the previous vandalism was entered in court Monday, though the agreed facts state the Shukhevych bust had earlier been treated to make it easier to clean.
Kinney was arrested in October 2022 after an extensive police investigation. In an earlier defence application, Kinney said dozens of officers and 180 man-hours of surveillance were involved, which he claimed was motivated by his status as an EPS critic.
“It should be self-evident that the enormous police resources poured into the EPS investigation about spray painting memorials to the Nazi Waffen-SS and one of its collaborators, which was removed by use of a garden hose, can only be explained by the EPS’ motivation to charge, and see convicted, a critic of the EPS,” Kinney’s application reads.
The fight over Kinney’s credentials eventually drew in the Edmonton Police Commission after city councillor Anne Stevenson asked about it at a hearing months before Kinney was charged. Ashvin Singh, another police commissioner, later claimed Stevenson acted unethically by attempting to “actively influence an investigation” into Kinney. Stevenson was ultimately cleared by a third-party investigation and told Postmedia she did not know Kinney was under criminal investigation.
Singh, for his part, has not said which investigation he was referring to or whether he knew about the criminal investigation into Kinney before police announced charges against him.
Kinney was initially scheduled to face a jury trial Monday, but opted to plead guilty. Engel said he will seek an expert report ahead of sentencing, which will examine “what factors contributed to him committing this offence.”
Kinney declined to comment Monday. He has since begun training for a career in psychiatric nursing.
Progress Report, which Kinney last wrote for in early 2026, is separate from Press Progress, the media arm of the Broadbent Institute. Postmedia has asked both it and the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex for comment.
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