Alleged shooter was caught on video protesting immigration

FREDERICTON — A man who allegedly murdered four people last month in a shooting spree in Fredericton was captured on video criticizing Muslim immigration in a 2017 protest outside the provincial legislature.

The 7 1⁄2 -minute interview with Matthew Raymond was filmed on June 3, 2017, by blogger Charles LeBlanc, who said Wednesday he only recently realized whom he had spoken to.

On the video, LeBlanc repeatedly questions the truth of statements from Raymond, 48, and his tendency to rely on the internet as a source for his assertions.

Raymond is alleged to have fired down upon four people from his apartment window with a long gun, killing two civilians as they loaded a car for a trip and two police officers who responded to the scene on Aug. 10.

In the video, Raymond states that Muslim immigrants in St. John’s, N.L., had successfully demanded the removal of a cross from a church, citing the internet as his source.

The Canadian Press can find no record of a cross removal, though five years ago a high school removed a crucifix from the side of a building. Newfoundland and Labrador English School District said the cross was removed during a renovation and wasn’t reinstalled in 2013, “given denominational education in Newfoundland and Labrador had ended in 1996.”