An Ontario man accused of throwing gravel at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2021 federal election campaign pleaded guilty Tuesday in a London courtroom to a lesser charge of common assault in relation to the incident.
The surprise guilty plea came the same day that Shane Marshall, 26, of St. Thomas, Ont., was set to stand trial on a charge of assault with a weapon in relation to the incident, which occurred on Sept. 6, 2021 as Trudeau was leaving a campaign stop at London Brewing Co-op.
“Your counsel … is telling me that you wish to plead guilty to the lesser and included offence of what we call common assault. Is that correct?” Justice Kevin G. McHugh asked Marshall during the hearing.
“Yes, sir,” Marshall replied.
“Are you feeling any pressure to enter this plea today?” McHugh asked later.
“No, sir.”
“You’re entering this plea voluntarily, are you?”
“Yes.”
The Labour Day stop in 2021 attracted a number of protesters who appeared angry about COVID-19 health measures and vaccination requirements, many yelling slurs and insults at Trudeau, Global News reported at the time.
As Trudeau was boarding his campaign bus, a small handful of gravel was thrown from the group of protesters, striking the prime minister, members of his security team, and other protesters, said assistant Crown attorney Jeremy Carnegie, reviewing the facts aloud in court.
The incident was captured on video, and London police began investigating the incident on Sept. 8. The investigating officer reviewed “numerous videos” showing Marshall at the event, and he was observed pacing around a crowd of protesters toward the driveway of a neighbouring building, Carnegie told the court.
“The accused was captured reaching down to the unfinished driveway, where he picks up a handful of gravel. The gravel was then thrown at the prime minister over the crowd. This was witnessed by a number of citizens standing within close proximity at the time of the incident,” Carnegie said.
“At the time, the accused was walking with a hockey stick and a flag attached to it in his possession. The accused was identified as the perpetrator through social media and his identity was confirmed using a St. Thomas Police Service mugshot.”
No one was injured in the incident, Carnegie said.
At the time, Marshall was the president of the People’s Party of Canada’s Elgin-Middlesex-London riding association. The party booted Marshall from the role after news of his initial charge became public.
During a press conference the day after the incident, Trudeau acknowledged that he “felt some gravel” and condemned what had happened.
Lawyers representing Marshall had sought to subpoena the prime minister to have him testify during the trial.
On Monday, a Superior Court justice quashed the subpoena on what appeared to be grounds of parliamentary privilege for Trudeau, according to the London Free Press.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Marshall’s lawyers filed a notice of application to adjourn the trial, saying the outcome of the subpoena the previous day “created a significant number of issues for Mr. Marshall’s case.”
“We now need to consider bringing a Section 7 and a Section 11D application. We’re requesting an adjournment for that purpose. The other purpose of requesting the adjournment is outstanding disclosure,” said lawyer Luke Reidy of Millars Law, the firm representing Marshall.
Later on in the hearing, Carnegie requested that he and Reidy have a “brief discussion” before a ruling be made on the application. When court resumed after an extended recess, the application to adjourn was withdrawn and the guilty plea was entered.
“We kind of exercised our options, and when we were denied that ability to cross-examine the complainant on it…. It’s a weird legal position, because there’s no appeal on that decision to quash the subpoena,” said lawyer Phil Millar of Millars Law.
“It’s a serious compromise because assault with a weapon is quite a different charge than assault in terms of seriousness. I think they just came to a resolution that brought the matter to an end. Sometimes clients have to make decisions that protect them from more serious consequences in order to get on with their life, and that’s what he did.”
A sentencing hearing for Marshall will be held on May 1.
“We’re going to obviously ask for something that that is the least serious possible to allow justice to be served. I think your benchmark is that case… where the guy put the pie in Chretien’s face,” Millar said, referring to an incident dating back to the 2000 federal election.
Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was attending a pre-election campaign event in Charlottetown on Aug. 16, 2000 when he was hit in the face with a pie. A 24-year-old man, Evan Brown, was later convicted of assault and sentenced to 30 days in jail.
“It’s pretty common knowledge that we’re going to ask for the best results so that he can get on with his life and everybody be satisfied. Obviously, we think it’s less serious than the Brown case.”
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