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A B.C. man has been sentenced to two months of house arrest after pleading guilty to posting a Facebook video threatening the life of a Richmond Center MP.
A judge gave Peter Liu a 60-day suspended sentence on Wednesday after the 30-year-old admitted he videotaped himself calling Wilson Miao a “communist agent” before saying, “He’ll get what’s coming to him” and a shotgun fired at one of the liberal politician’s pamphlets.
Provincial court Judge Diana Vandor said the former Canadian Armed Forces reservist’s conduct “posed a direct and literal threat to a democratically elected politician. More broadly, a threat to democracy itself.”
“In this political system, the future of this country is decided at the ballot box rather than down the barrel of a gun. There is no way to ignore the power of the message this video conveys about democracy.” said the judge.
“Mr Liu’s messages incited the use of political violence. The community values of this democratic country do not match the message Mr. Liu conveyed nor the method he used to convey it.”
‘It was wrong of me’
Miao was elected in 2021 after defeating a Conservative incumbent by just 772 votes in the federal election.
He made headlines in the months that followed when opponents alleged that he and another newly elected lawmaker benefited from the influence of pro-China activists — accusations that federal Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino rejected as unfounded.
The Parliamentary Protection Service says it is adding more officers and beefing up security after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s heated confrontation with protesters, but some MPs want the sergeant-at-arm to create larger protection zones that protesters cannot access.
According to a search warrant obtained by CBC, an acquaintance of the suspect approached Vancouver Police Department (VPD) on May 15, 2023, after seeing a disturbing video on Liu’s Facebook page.
The VPD contacted the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team – the group charged with detecting, deterring, disrupting and preventing criminal activity by people who pose a threat to Canadian security.
Born in China, Liu moved to Canada as a child and served as a reservist there for five years.
Vandor said Liu cooperated with investigators when they came to his door and told them he “legally owned many long weapons in the form of rifles, semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that were not securely stored in his home.”
The judge said Liu, who has no criminal history, was remorseful and wrote an apology to Miao.
“It was wrong of me to make that video, say those words and store firearms in an unsafe manner. Despite all intentions, that type of behavior is completely unacceptable and has no place in our society,” the letter said.
“These mistakes are all part of my personal shortcomings, and I want to restore both you and the public’s trust in me as a responsible citizen.”
Cream cakes and gravel
The conviction comes at a time of heightened concern about political violence and threats against politicians following a confrontation between NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and anti-government protesters.
The NDP leader confronted two men after someone accused him of being a “corrupt son of a bitch.” The incident took place outside the House of Commons as officers from the Parliamentary Protection Service looked on.
In devising a punishment for Liu, Vandor reviewed a series of cases of threats against Canadian politicians dating back more than 20 years.
In 2001, a judge on Prince Edward Island sentenced Evan Brown to 30 days in jail for smearing a cream cake in the face of then Prime Minister Jean Chretien – an amount that was reduced to eight days on appeal.
Seven years later, an Alberta man was given 12 months’ probation and 60 hours of community service for making threats against former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The judge cited three cases involving threats to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and three cases involving Quebec premiers.
In 2017, a Saskatchewan man was sentenced to probationary period of nine months for threatening Trudeau on Facebook and in 2022 an Ontario man received a Suspended sentence of 60 days for threatening Trudeau’s life at a campaign event.
The most recent conviction came a year ago when an Ontario judge gave Shane Marshall 90 days of house arrest and a year of probation for throwing gravel at Trudeau during a federal election campaign stop.
Judge Kevin McHugh said Marshall’s actions were the “manifestation of mob mentality” that threatened Trudeau’s safety and the safety and security of Canadians.
“His actions were anti-democratic and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” McHugh said.
Liu’s lawyers had hoped for a suspended sentence, while the Crown was seeking a six-month suspended sentence.
Vandor said it was important that Liu’s sentence had a deterrent effect.
“In a free and democratic society, we value civil debate, peaceful transfers of power, peaceful resolution of conflicts and a state governed by the rule of law,” she said.
“All of these values were affected by this crime.”
