The masked man in the video vowed to kill one Arab per week in Quebec. (Radio-Canada)

The masked man in the video vowed to kill one Arab per week in Quebec.
Photo Credit: (Radio-Canada)

Man who allegedly threatened to kill an ‘Arab a week’ released on bail

A 24-year-old man facing numerous charges for allegedly threatening to kill Quebec Arabs and Muslims in a bizarre Youtube video was released on bail Monday.

Jesse Pelletier, was arrested by Montreal police last Wednesday and charged with uttering threats to kill or cause harm to members of the Arab community, inciting hatred against an identifiable group, causing fear among members of the Arab community and using a fake firearm to carry out a threat. The last charge carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence and a one-year mandatory minimum prison sentence upon conviction.

The threats were made in a Youtube video showing a man wearing a Halloween mask of The Joker, the psychotic villain in the popular Hollywood blockbusters Batman and The Dark Night. Brandishing what turn out to be an air gun, not a real pistol, the man in the video expressed his frustration with Muslims and Arabs in Quebec, adding that if the government wasn’t prepared do anything about them, then he would. The man in the video claimed that he was not acting alone and that there was a group of people who were ready to carry out his threat.

“I will shoot an Arab in the head, once each week, starting next week,” declared the man in the video, released last Tuesday by someone using the name “Jack Napier,” an apparent referral to the name of The Joker in the superhero film. The video was quickly pulled.

Pelletier’s defence lawyer Audrey Amzallag told RCI on Monday her client who is bound to a wheelchair because of a bone disease will have to follow several conditions. Pelletier who broke both legs last year is not allowed to use computers, he has to observe a strict curfew, he can’t associate with people with criminal records and has to reside at a specific address, Amzallag said.

The next court date is set for Jan 18, 2016, she said.

Categories: Society
Tags:

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.