A Redvers man has been charged with willful promotion of hate under the Criminal Code, following an investigation that lasted nearly two years.
According to a news release from the Saskatchewan RCMP issued Wednesday morning, in June 2019, Carlyle RCMP received a report from the Canadian Anti-Hate Network regarding an alleged anti-Semitic video on YouTube called Beware the Parasitic Tribe. The video features Travis Patron of Redvers, who is the leader of the Canadian Nationalist Party.
The Carlyle RCMP detachment launched an investigation with the assistance of the Saskatchewan RCMP Major Crimes Unit, the Saskatchewan RCMP National Security Section and the British Columbia RCMP Hate Crimes Unit.
All of the evidence gathered by police was reviewed and forwarded to the Saskatchewan Attorney General, which is a requirement for the charge of willful promotion of hate to be laid under Sec. 319(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada.
From April 2020 to July 2020, the Carlyle RCMP says it received four additional reports of new alleged anti-Semitic videos and hate speech by Patron. Police are still investigating each of these reports.
On Feb. 15, Carlyle RCMP were given direction from the Attorney General of Saskatchewan to arrest and charge Patron, 29, under Sec. 319(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada for willfully promoting hatred to an identifiable group. Patron, age 29, was arrested by Carlyle RCMP that day.
He made his first court appearance on Feb. 16 in Weyburn Provincial Court via telephone. He is scheduled to appear next in Regina Provincial Court on Feb. 17 at 2 p.m.
Patron ran in Souris-Moose Mountain in the 2019 federal election for the Canadian Nationalist Party. He finished sixth in the six-candidate field.
Patron also has outstanding, unrelated charges of aggravated assault and assault causing bodily harm, as well as breaching a probation order, stemming from an alleged incident involving two women that occurred in November 2019.
He is presumed innocent.
