#HateSpeech: Edmonton man charged for making threats on social media against Canadian Prime Minister
An Edmonton man has been charged after being linked to a social media account posting threatening messages against Justin Trudeau.
A 41-year-old Edmonton man is facing a criminal charge after the Federal Police (RCMP) tracked a social media account used to post threatening messages against members of the Canadian government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team(K-INSET) in Edmonton learned of the threatening messages on Feb. 5, just days after Trudeau fielded questions from a crowd of around 1,400 members of the public at MacEwan University in Edmonton on Feb. 1 as part of a national series of town hall meetings.
Investigators identified an Edmonton address and individual account holder linked to the social media account used to send the messages and made an arrest on Feb. 15, RCMP said in a Tuesday news release.
The man has been released from custody under the condition of being banned from going within 500 metres of anywhere Prime Minister Trudeau may be. He must also stay within Alberta and is prohibited from accessing any social media websites.
Robert Dale Kerr, 41, is charged with uttering threats. He is scheduled to appear in Edmonton Provincial Court on Thursday at 8:15 a.m.
In January, Leduc-area man Orion Rutley was charged with two counts of uttering threats after being accused of posting threatening messages about Trudeau and Premier Rachel Notley on Twitter.
Lisa Seymore-Peters, 49, of Lethbridge was charged with one count of uttering threats in May 2017 after allegedly posting threats on social media aimed at Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Trudeau’s wife.
edmontonjournal