Sarah Leamon: Hate speech is on the rise—and our laws need to be adapted to address the problem
This is a lesson learned too late for one Surrey resident, who was arrested earlier this week after he posted a disturbing comment on Global B.C.’s Facebook page. In the post, which featured a picture from Surrey’s Vaisakhi Parade, the 46-year old wrote “Imagine what one pressure cooker bomb could have done…missed opportunities suck.”
While he may have considered his comment a joke—albeit a horribly inappropriate “joke” in extremely poor taste—the Surrey RCMP disagrees, characterizing it as something much more sinister: hate speech potentially worthy of attracting a criminal record and perhaps even jail time.
The RCMP says that the investigation is ongoing, but it has not ruled out the possibility of laying criminal charges in connection to the post.