This North Bay, Ont., man is fighting hate with humour. And it all starts with stolen minnows

A North Bay, Ont., man has released a music video responding to targeted social media posts.

Michael Thompson, a single father and self-employed business owner, was shocked to learn he had been accused of theft in an online post featuring surveillance images. A friend living in Hong Kong alerted him to the post, which incorrectly identified him as the suspect based solely on his skin colour.

Despite community members defending him and pointing out the inaccuracy, the post escalated, with additional comments filled with racial stereotypes and hate.

"This gentleman that was accusing me, he has seen me around town for like the last 25 years… So after [we] had already explained that it wasn't me, he jokingly made another post again saying, 'Oh no, it's definitely that guy with the image of my face and such.' That's when his other friend started jumping in with a couple of rude comments as well," Thompson said.

Thompson, who says he has faced racism throughout his life, said the incident brought up painful memories. 

"At first it was triggering — it was more of a hurtful feeling more than anything … because of a lot of past traumatic events, situations like that I put behind me and keep trying to put behind me. Just as things are getting better, then all of a sudden something like this happens and it's like, wow, it's just frustrating."

Rather than letting anger consume him, Thompson channelled his emotions into a music video. Using humour and storytelling, the video was both a personal release and a way to raise awareness about racial injustice.

Morning North7:12Man in North Bay dealing with recent online hate responds with a humourous music video

What happens when you accuse a northern Ontario rapper of stealing some minnows from a local bait shop? He writes a diss track about it with a humorous music video.

"It gets my story across and hopefully gets back to the other people involved," he said. "I only make music when I feel the emotional energy to do it, which is when I feel like saying something out loud."

Thompson's video has sparked dialogue about racism and the importance of standing up against hate. 

While one individual involved has apologized, Thompson said the main person behind the posts has not reached out, leaving him concerned about unresolved tensions in his community.

"I find dealing with hate matching with hate. I've done that too many times where it just doesn't work out for anybody," he said.

"So I was just like, let's just let me make this into a positive. Let me make this into a situation where I can walk away from where I'm like, sure, this annoyed me, but I got my word out there. I proved my innocence. I also proved to the public there are other ways to resolve the issues."