People's Party official charged with assault in Justin Trudeau stone-throwing

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London police have charged a man with assault after gravel stones were thrown at Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau during a campaign stop in the city, investigators said Saturday.

Shane Marshall, 25, of St. Thomas is charged with one count of assault with a weapon in the Labour Day incident and is to appear in court next on Oct. 6. Following a London Free Press probe into the incident, Marshall was ousted as a local organizer for the People’s Party of Canada.

Police say gravel stones were thrown at Trudeau at about 6 p.m. on Sept. 6 as he boarded his campaign bus outside the London Brewing Co-Op, where he’d held a campaign event. Video captured by The London Free Press shows Trudeau turning around abruptly as he is struck before proceeding onto the bus, uninjured.

Police probe stone-throwing at Justin Trudeau, witnesses point to PPC official

The Liberal leader’s Labour Day campaign stop in London attracted about 100 protesters, chanting “lock him up” and “freedom.” Many demonstrators were wearing People’s Party of Canada garb. Trudeau attracted similar protests at a campaign stop in Brantford earlier that day.

A man was removed from the London protest by the RCMP, as captured by LFP photojournalist Derek Ruttan. A Free Press investigation in the following days connected the stone thrower to Marshall, the head of the Elgin-Middlesex-London riding association for the People’s Party of Canada (PPC). An anti-hate network also connects Marshall to social media sites that promote neo-Nazi and white nationalist material.

The People’s Party of Canada soon turfed Marshall from his post as riding association president in Elgin-Middlesex-London, where Chelsea Hillier is the candidate.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Separately, CTV Kitchener is reporting that a man, 32, has been charged with uttering threats during a Trudeau campaign stop in Kitchener on Aug. 29.  The man’s name has not been reported publicly.