Wall Street banker in jail after threatening Justin Trudeau from Ontario fast food joint
A former Wall Street banker is now in jail in London, Ont. after he allegedly emailed death threats targeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from a Sarnia McDonald's location.
Sarnia police obtained a copy of the email earlier this year, which allegedly made gun and bomb threats to Trudeau and local supporters.
Kandia Aird, a lawyer who represented the Attorney General of Canada at the hearing, said the email was titled, "I am going to kill Justin Trudeau."
"The body of the email was concerning and stated a number of violent and troubling statements," Aird said.
According to Aird, the email read, "No more F-word Trudeau. I've had it. I've built bombs and guns. I'm going to go around Sarnia and lay waste to the people who support him. You can't stop me, no one can."
The accused allegedly sent the email to a reporter with The National Post, although it appears the email was meant to be sent to the prime minister's office. The reporter contacted Sarnia police regarding the email on Jan. 24, who launched an investigation the next day.
The email's IP address was linked to a McDonald's location in Sarnia, and police were able to pin down the suspect using surveillance footage.
The alleged, 40-year old Jeremy Joseph of Houston, Texas, has now been charged with two counts of threatening death or bodily harm and one count of threatening to damage property.
Court heard that Joseph lives in a homeless shelter in Sarnia, and battles addiction and mental health issues. Aside from the charges in Sarnia, Joseph is currently wanted in Texas for terroristic threats.
According to Aird, there are four outstanding arrest warrants for him in three different U.S. states. Joseph, who holds a master's degree in bio-engineering as well as a degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business, said the alleged crimes don't fit his identity.
"Not only does not fit my identity, but shows you that identity is critical," he said as he represented himself at Friday's bail hearing. "These are allegations about my identity being misused."
Joseph is due to appear in court again later this month.
Elizabeth Caruana via LinkedIn
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