Activist pleads guilty to assaulting Couillard at vigil
A man who threw something at Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard during a vigil commemorating the victims of a mass shooting in the U.S. pleaded guilty to assault on Friday.
Esteban Torres Wicttorff, 21, of Montreal, was scheduled to have a one-day trial at the Montreal courthouse, but opted instead to plead guilty to one of the charges he faced after his arrest on June 16, 2016.
The incident occurred June 16 while Couillard was at a vigil held in Montreal — Parc de l’espoir at Ste-Catherine St. E. and Panet St. — four days after 49 people were killed inside the Pulse nightclub, a gay club in Orlando. Torres, a well-known activist in Montreal’s transgender community, had spoken at the vigil before Couillard. The premier was rushed from the stage after Torres threw something toward his face. The police were never able to locate the item.
According to the Journal de Montréal, on Friday, Torres told Quebec Court Judge Daniel Bédard that he tossed a ball of paper at the premier because he took issue with Couillard when he said Montreal is an inclusive city. The Crown has asked that Torres receive a sentence that requires he perform community service while Torres’s lawyer, Arij Riahi, asked that his sentence result in a conditional discharge.
Bédard will make a decision on the sentence later this month.