SASKATOON 鈥� The founder of the online group "Diagolon" has fired his lawyer during Saskatoon provincial court in proceedings on gun-related charges.
Jeremy MacKenzie, 36, is charged with assault, pointing a firearm and using a restricted weapon in a careless manner, and mischief in connection with an alleged assault in November 2021 near Viscount, Sask., about 75 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.
He was denied bail at a hearing last Friday.
MacKenzie was arrested on Sept. 28 in Cole Harbour, N.S., on a Canada-wide warrant issued by Saskatchewan RCMP in July.
MacKenzie was also charged in Nova Scotia with 13 firearms offences in January, and with harassment and intimidation in March after an anti-mask protest outside the home of Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health.
"Diagolon", the group Mackenzie leads, is described in a 2022 House of Commons report as an ideologically motivated and violent extremist organization.
It shares members and affiliation with the "Freedom Convoy,'' as well as those opposed to government-mandated health restrictions.
RCMP are also investigating MacKenzie for comments made last month during a livestream about sexually assaulting the wife of federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Mackenzie is to appear back in Saskatoon court on Oct. 27. (CTV, The Canadian Press)
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2022
The Canadian Press
