Barry Ellsworth
21 October 2022•Update: 21 October 2022
TRENTON, Canada
A man who threatened Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was sentenced Thursday to house arrest, with the presiding judge stating that "such anti-democratic behavior has to stop."
Thomas Dyer, 32, was seen during a campaign stop in Ontario Aug. 29, 2021, holding a poster that showed a hangman leading Trudeau toward a noose.
Further, on his Facebook page, Dyer posted a video in which he called for Trudeau to "come out" and used "various vulgar terms to describe the prime minister," according to a statement of facts submitted to the court. The incident took place in Cambridge, Ontario, a city of about 138,000 located 80 km southwest of Toronto.
A week after the event, police charged Dyer with two counts of uttering threats. He has a history of violent crimes. Between 2005-2009 Dyer was convicted of forcible confinement, criminal harassment and various assaults.
Judge Craig Parry said the sentence of 60-days house arrest and community service served as a warning that while Canadians have a right to express political views, they do not possess the right to threaten others, including those running for public office and elected politicians. By interrupting and delaying the campaign event, he also infringed the rights of others, Parry said.
“He risked disrupting an essential part of the electoral system and threatened the life of a person who was a head of state… In my view, this court has a duty to state unequivocally that violence and unlawful protest will not be tolerated,” the judge said. “The court must denounce such behavior and discourage others from imitating such behavior. Such anti-democratic behavior must stop."
