Critic of Islam prosecuted in Canada

A self-described “journalist & social commentator” known for posting angry video rants attacking Muslims and a range of other targets has been charged with committing a hate crime.

Kevin J. Johnston, a 45-year-old resident of Mississauga, Ont., posts videos on his website freedomreport.ca and to various social media platforms, and at one point had his accounts suspended by YouTube and Twitter.

Though he carried on fights with various public figures (and even ran for mayor of Mississauga in 2014) he focused much of his attention on schools, which he accused of “indoctrinating” students with Islamic ideology. In one video, he offered a bounty — first $1,000, later increased to $2,500 — to anyone who filmed a Muslim student in a Mississauga school “spewing hate speech during Friday prayers.”

In another, he said Liberal MP Iqra Khalid could get shot for introducing a motion condemning Islamophobia in the House of Commons, and said he’d be there to witness it with a “with a big, fat smile.”

On Monday, Peel Regional Police announced Johnston had been charged with one count of wilful promotion of hatred, a Criminal Code offence with a maximum penalty of two years in jail. The announcement said the charge “stems from a lengthy investigation into numerous incidents reported to police … and concerns information published on various social media sites.”

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