David Popescu, the fringe candidate from Sudbury who declared that all gay people should be killed while speaking in front of high school students at a candidate’s debate, has been found guilty of inciting hatred under Canada’s criminal code.

Good.

Popescu, already a sentenced criminal for striking his elderly mother in 2003, tried to shield his immoral actions behind a cowardly veil of religious beliefs, saying that he’s just acting the way the bible wants him to. Thankfully, the courts do not accept that uttering death threats and inciting hatred toward an entire population is OK because one interprets their religious texts as such.

• Popescu guilty of promoting hatred [Sudbury Star]

David Popescu, the crazy fringe candidate from Sudbury who declared that all gays should be killed during a federal election debate, has been charged by the Greater Sudbury Police Service for two counts of the wilful promotion of violence and hatred toward an identifiable group.

Canada outlaws speech that promotes violence or hatred toward minority groups through section 319(2) of the Criminal Code. Despite this, Popescu has only stood by his remarks, saying that his promotion of LGBT genocide is protected by his freedom of religious expression. (Maybe he skipped over the “Thou shalt not kill” bits?)

Already, some right-wing commentators have leapt to Popescu’s defense, claiming that his prosecution is just an example of the oppression and intolerance that Christians are currently facing.

Sigh… Let’s just get this out there, shall we?

Reporting a death threat is not opression or intolerance; investigating a death threat is not oppression or intolerance; charging and prosecuting those who utter death threats is not oppression or intolerance. I will not accept that threatening an entire group of people with death is OK because one interprets their religious texts as such. In fact, I don’t believe that resistance to any of the harmful, hateful messages often repeated by those shielding themselves behind religious texts is oppression or intolerance. Tolerance has never meant submission into being treated as inferior and unworthy of human dignities.

So, to those who seriously believe it’s intolerant for gays to resist being told we are lesser, that we shouldn’t ask for or deserve equal rights, or that we simply write off a call for our death as a religious freedom: Suh-lap!

• Popescu charged for comments on gays [Sudbury Star]
• Anti-gay views land fringe candidate in hot water [Daily Press]

An independent candidate in Sudbury, Ontario shocked an audience of high school students during a federal election debate by calling for the murder of all gay people.

David Popescu made the comments in response to a audience member’s question about same-sex marriage. Many in the audience were reported to have risen to their feet in disgust, while the other candidates from the Liberal, NDP, and First Peoples National Party watched in stunned silence.

In a telephone interview with The Sudbury Star, Popescu unabashedly re-iterated his position, indeed promoting the murder of every gay person:

A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed. My whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn’t be more clear on that point.

What a miserable, small man.

Inciting hatred and calling for the murder of identifiable groups is illegal in Canada, and Sudbury police started their investigation within hours of the debate.

While Popescu’s behaviour requires punishment by law, Sudbury Secondary School deserves strong condemnation for their lax reaction and for refusing to clarify whether or not they would allow Popescu to speak at the school again. Principal Paul Camillo said that the school “respect[s] all other opinions, although we may not agree with them.” What a cowardly, disgusting stance in the face of an invited potential policymaker who directly called for the execution of a large number of the school’s students.

• Kill gays, candidate says [The Sudbury Star]