Cadet leader cannot sit up after Hamilton assault, son says

Global News speaks with Christopher Kunkel about his father's condition and a family outing just before the attack.

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Global News Story of November 7, 2026Trari Newsroom

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Air Cadets supervisor unable to walk after violent assault at Hamilton mall: family

Christopher Kunkel remembers his father walking with his grandchildren on a trick-or-treating outing. A day later, Capt. Kenneth Kunkel was attacked while supervising cadets selling poppies outside a Hamilton mall, Global News reports.

Now his son describes a profound loss of independence: "He's bedridden. He can't even sit up on his own right now."

In Caryn Lieberman's report, Christopher says the confrontation began after cadets selling poppies were harassed. The report describes youths blowing an air horn into their ears, followed by Kunkel pursuing them.

Hamilton Police Const. Trevor McKenna says a woman who was not connected to the youths intervened in the confrontation. According to the police account in the report, Kunkel was knocked down and punched. Global News reports that a woman and a youth have been charged with aggravated assault.

The family says Kunkel is unable to walk and faces a long recovery. Christopher returns to the contrast with that family outing, remembering it as one of their happiest shared moments in years, before his father needed help even to sit up.

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