REGINA — A Saskatchewan man has been found guilty of uttering threats against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Christopher Hayes has been fined $500, given nine months probation, which includes not attending Trudeau events, and is prohibited from owning firearms for three years.
Hayes said on Facebook on March 6 that he was going to shoot Trudeau and in another post on July 8, Hayes wrote that he wouldn’t physically harm Trudeau, but said the PM should be shot dead.
Court heard that Hayes wasn’t charged by RCMP after the first post because the investigating officer believed Hayes understood the mistake he had made and would not do it again.
But in a statement to police after the second post, Hayes agreed when the officer said that he had crossed a line.
Provincial court Judge Ross Green wrote in his decision that he had no hesitation in finding that a reasonable person would find both posts constitute a threat towards the prime minister.
“I accept that Mr. Hayes did not intend to kill the prime minister and I further accept that he was frustrated by the economic problems he was facing when he made the posts on Facebook,” Green wrote in the decision issued Monday.
“But … I am satisfied that he intended the threatening words he used in both of his posts, regarding causing death to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to intimidate and to be taken seriously.”
Source: cnews.canoe.com
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