A local Calgary pastor who was charged with causing a disturbance and mischief while protesting Drag Queen Story Hour was found not guilty by the Alberta Court.
CALGARY: On February 25, 2023, Pastor Derek Reimer was arrested as he attended a "Reading with Royalty" event - commonly known as drag queen story hour - at the Seton Library in Calgary. He was protesting what he believed was inappropriate exposure of sexual themes to children. After he was physically removed from the event, he was arrested and charged with mischief and causing a disturbance. His trial was held in September of last year, resuming in May of 2024, before Justice Allan Fradsham. The Court released its ruling and found Pastor Reimer not guilty of both offences. (The judgment can be found here.)
TDF-funded lawyer, Andrew MacKenzie, said: "This is an important exoneration. Pastor Reimer has been zealously prosecuted over the past two years for peacefully protesting drag events for children. Today, the trial judge found that the witnesses against him were contradictory and biased, giving testimony 'bespeak[ing] an animus towards Mr. Reimer.' Because of the Crown’s decision to prosecute him on that evidence, Pastor Reimer was held in jail for 43 days. The Crown then stacked charges against him in the following months. He was effectively banned from peacefully protesting drag events since this charge came down in March of last year.
While nothing can give him back that time, we take some vindication from the thorough and thoughtful decision published by the Alberta Courts. There have been concerns that a guilty verdict could set a precedent effectively criminalizing certain forms of protest. This decision affirms the existing common-sense precedent that Pastor Reimer should be allowed to legally protest.
Pastor Reimer is thankful for the opportunity to have his day in court, have the acquittal published and publicized, and that this legal battle inspired such a groundswell of support from concerned Canadians. His fight is not over, but today’s result was an unmitigated vindication."
About The Democracy Fund:
Founded in 2021, The Democracy Fund (TDF) is a Canadian charity dedicated to constitutional rights, advancing education, and relieving poverty. TDF promotes constitutional rights through litigation and public education and supports an access to justice initiative for Canadians whose civil liberties have been infringed by government lockdowns and other public policy responses to the pandemic.