REGINA \u2014 A Saskatchewan man has been found guilty of uttering threats against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. \u00a0Christopher Hayes has been fined $500, given nine months probation, which includes not attending Trudeau events, and is prohibited from owning firearms for three years.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t physically harm Trudeau, but said the PM should be shot dead.<\/p>\n
Court heard that Hayes wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
But in a statement to police after the second post, Hayes agreed when the officer said that he had crossed a line.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Green wrote in the decision issued Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut … 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source:\u00a0cnews.canoe.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"