He is expected to be arraigned later today on various charges, including uttering threats, although Leclerc says there might also be charges related to inciting hatred.
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The criminal code lists the hoax charge as an offence that intends to “cause any person to fear death, bodily harm” and conveys information that is likely to “cause a reasonable apprehension that terrorist activity is occurring or will occur, without believing the information to be true”.
The masked man speaks in French, and threatens, “As of next week, there will be murders all across Quebec”.
The video was originally posted under the name “Jack Napier” – the name of The Joker in the 1989 movie.
A Montreal man is behind bars for his alleged involvement in a viral YouTube video.
He said he’s been told the man suffers from a physical disability, and is the father of a young child.
He waved a gun – which later turned out to be fake – at the camera as a baby could be heard crying in the background. Brandishing a pistol, the man in the video threatened to kill Muslims and Arabs starting next week.
“People have now been reassured”, he said.
He said: “A group of individuls and I will intervene”. “There are a few commentators, some trash radio hosts that are scaring the population”, he said.
In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris last week, there has reportedly been a rise in the number of hate attacks against Muslims in Canada.
Earlier over the weekend a mosque in Peterborough in Ontario province was set ablaze and on Monday a Muslim woman was attacked in Toronto as she was picking her son from an elementary school.
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The police spokesperson could not say if investigators were able to substantiate the existence of a larger group of people committed to targeting Quebec Muslims.
