Pride protester charged with harassment after hospital visit, selfie

The organizer of a recent protest at a London Pride event has been charged with criminal harassment after a bizarre photo was taken in the palliative care room of an online critic’s ailing father, police say.

Windsor police say 34-year-old Bubba Christopher Michael Pollock of London was charged following an investigation that began earlier this week.

Police say Pollock — the self-styled leader of a protest at last week’s Pride even in London’s Wortley Village — was involved in arguments on social media with a Windsor woman, 36-year-old Brittany Leroux, a vocal supporter of the Pride community.

Police say a suspect travelled from London to Windsor, where he took a selfie with a patient in a Windsor palliative care facility.

That patient was Andre Leroux, Brittany Leroux’s terminally ill father.

Pollock has no relationship with Andre Leroux. It’s unclear how Pollock is said to have gained gained access to the palliative care room.

According to the Sarnia-based group Diversity Ed, the image was originally posted by Pollock in a social media comment chain visible to Leroux, without prompting or additional context.

Windsor police said investigators believe the victim was “consistently harassed through social media over a period of time.”

Pollock now faces one count of criminal harassment, which is defined under the Criminal Code of Canada as conduct that causes another person to reasonably “fear for their safety or the safety of anyone known to them.”

The allegations against Pollock have not been proven in court.

Criminal harassment can be treated as a summary conviction offence or an indictable offence.

Punishments on summary conviction typically involve a fine of no more than $5,000 and/or up to six months in jail.

If treated as an indictable offence, a criminal harassment conviction carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

CTV London’s Marek Sutherland reported that Leroux was recently married in a widely reported ceremony in the hospital, so her father could attend. CTV also reported that Sutherland also interviewed Pollock, who confirmed the visit but denied any intent to harass a critic.

“This was nothing malicious whatsoever and how it’s being twisted,” Pollock told CTV London. “. . . I understand what it’s like to be in this situation. I brought flowers to this gentleman, dropped them off and left.”

In May, Pollock was photographed by The London Free Press walking alongside Shane Marshall outside the London courthouse after a court appearance by Marshall on charges of assaulting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by throwing gravel at him during a 2021 federal election campaign stop.

Marshall was a local riding official with the People’s Party of Canada. Just before the Trudeau incident, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network issued an advisory over Marshall’s online posts.