Details of charges against Canadian Nationalist Party founder emerge at criminal harassment trial
Travis Patron says he was acting "for God and country" when he confronted an off-duty RCMP officer at the Midtown Plaza in Saskatoon on July 30, 2023.
Patron, 32, is on trial before a jury and Justice John Morrall at Court of King's Bench in Saskatoon. He's charged with criminal harassment and breach of probation.
Patron, who is representing himself, and prosecutor Lana Morelli made closing arguments Wednesday.
Morelli said that Patron caused the officer and his girlfriend to fear for their safety when he followed them through the downtown mall, yelling. A court-ordered publication ban prevents identifying the RCMP officer.
"'Why are you walking around with our women if you weren't born in Canada,'" Morelli said that Patron told the officer.
"Mr. Patron just wouldn't leave them alone."
The officer had testified at Patron's hate crimes trial the previous year.
In October 2022, Patron was convicted of hate speech for willfully promoting hatred against Jewish people. He was sentenced to one year in jail, but with credit for time served, had a little more than five months remaining on his sentence.
One of his release conditions was that he keep the peace. This led to the charge of breaching his probation.
Patron told jurors that "the Crown is accusing me of criminal harassment … but my actions were taken in good faith."
Patron founded the now defunct Canadian Nationalist Party, which promoted anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ views.
The party was de-registered by Elections Canada in March 2022 due to its failure to maintain an active party membership of at least 250 people.
