Interim Staff:
On Sept. 24, Pastor Derek Reimer was acquitted of charges related to his drag queen story time protest in Calgary.
Reimer, pastor of Mission 7 Ministries, was charged with causing a disturbance and mischief for protesting the “Reading with Royalty” event marketed for children at the Seton Public Library in February 2023. He was removed from the premises by police.
In his ruling, Judge Allan Fradsham called Reimer’s protest “disrespectful” and “inconsiderate,” but concluded that “not all actions” of this nature “are criminal.”
After being acquitted, Reimer posted on Facebook, quoting 2 Timothy 3:11: “Persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me.”
Reimer’s lawyer Andrew MacKenzie said in a statement to the media, the acquittal “is an important exoneration.” MacKenzie noted that Reimer has spent 46 days in jail and said that while nothing can give Reimer back the time he spent in jail, there is “some vindication from the thorough and thoughtful decision published by the Alberta Courts.”
Reimer was found guilty of criminal harassment in a separate case for protesting another drag queen story time and is awaiting sentencing on Nov. 28. He is also waiting for an Oct. 7 decision in relation to charges of trespassing and violating bail conditions for protesting at Calgary’s Signal Hill Library on March 15, 2023.
