Police in Ottawa are investigating after a photo of a man wearing an a t-shirt with a threatening anti-gay message went viral on Facebook over the weekend.
A man named Julien Clement from western Quebec was seen in the tavern of a farm in Munster, Ont., just outside Ottawa, over the weekend wearing a shirt with the inscription, "if you are gay, don't approch me, I'll kill you."
The word "approach" is misspelled.
A crew from CTV Ottawa caught up with Clement, who told a reporter, in French, "I hate gays for real", without elaborating. His friend, Yan Miller, also wore the shirt for CTV's cameras, and did elaborate.
"We’re not allowed to have whatever we want, and they can have a gay flag or they can have a parade but we can’t have a shirt?” Miller said.
A woman named Whitney Martin snapped the picture, and posted it on Facebook. The post has since been shared more than 2,000 times, and drew more than 1,000 comments — some appalled at the inscription, some dismissing it as a joke.
Martin didn't think it was a joke, and informed the farm's staff. Clement left the premises before anyone could take any action.
Police are investigating the shirt, and some of the Facebook comments, to make sure they don't run afoul of hate-speech guidelines outlined in Section 319 of the Criminal Code, which addresses public incitement of hatred and wilful promotion of hatred.