Frequent litigant apologizes for ‘outrageous comments’ in court

Following two hearings derailed by his continuous outbursts, lewd insults, and antisemitic commentary, Michael Kalo returned to court Friday muted and seemingly contrite.

“I would like to apologize for my disruptive behaviour,” Kalo told a judicial justice of the peace Friday after agreeing to a one-year peace bond prohibiting him from having any contact with a Palestinian-born sheriff’s officer who had accused Kalo of threatening and intimidating him.

“My behaviour during the hearing was shameful and I am truly sorry for it,” said Kalo, who identifies as Jewish. “I should not have made the outrageous comments I made, and I regret making personal comments about your worship… and others during these proceedings.”

Kalo has been a named applicant or defendant in 68 separate court actions since 2006. He was previously designated a vexatious litigant, meaning he must secure court approval before launching any future court actions. His often combative behaviour with front-line court staff routinely attracts the attention of sheriff’s officers who follow him closely during his frequent visits to the Law Courts building.

Kalo represented himself at two earlier hearings during which he opposed the peace bond, but on Friday let defence lawyer Scott Newman do most of the talking for him.

“We’ve arrived at a conclusion that involves Mr. Kalo entering into a (one-year) peace bond,” Newman said before having Kalo confirm he was prepared to abide by its conditions, including keeping the peace, having no contact with the named sheriff’s officer, not possessing any weapons, and that he provide advance notice to the sheriff’s office before he visits the courthouse.

Kalo’s about face comes three days before he is due to appear before a judge on 10 counts of contempt of court.

A judicial justice of the peace cited Kalo for contempt 10 times at a raucous court hearing in February during which he made irrelevant claims about a past sexual relationship with a woman who would later become a judge, accused a lawyer representing the sheriff’s officer of “dress(ing) like a whore,” and using offensive antisemitic stereotypes to describe senior justice officials.

At a previous hearing, the justice gave Kalo permission to bring a service dog to court to ease his claim of anxiety.

“I’m noting for the record you don’t appear to have a dog with you,” the justice said at the Feb. 27 hearing.

“No, but I brought a different service animal,” Kalo said. “I brought a snake, and it’s in my pants.”

When the sheriff’s officer testified, Kalo immediately objected to him saying he was born in Palestine.

“There is no such thing as Palestine,” Kalo said. “It is not an existing country… and there never will be a Palestine.”

The officer testified Kalo, when visiting court in December 2024, taunted him with references to Israel’s recent attack on Hezbollah using pagers packed with explosives. During another visit in October 2025, Kalo yelled at him for nearly two minutes, calling him a terrorist, the officer said.

“Being a refugee all my life… coming to Canada to seek peace and hearing that at my workplace, makes me feel very bad,” the officer said. “I don’t deserve that.”

Kalo interrupted the officer’s testimony to ridicule him.

“I’m heartbroken to hear how he’s been affected by an innocent statement by me,” he said. “Maybe he doesn’t have a sense of humour or is a very insecure person.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca