Protest at library drag reading event was criminal, says Crown

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The interruption of a Reading With Royalty drag event at a Calgary library by a city preacher amounted to criminal behaviour, a prosecutor argued Monday.

But the lawyer for Derek Scott Reimer suggested the Crown had failed to prove his client’s conduct was anything more than “a distraction.”

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Defence counsel Andrew Mackenzie argued Justice Allan Fradsham should acquit Reimer of charges of causing a disturbance and mischief in connection with a Feb. 25, 2023, event at the Seton branch of the Calgary Public Library.

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“I’ve yet to see a case where a distraction of the nature of this case was sufficient to get there,” Mackenzie said, of a finding his client’s conduct was criminal.

But Crown prosecutor Matt Dalidowicz said Reimer’s interruption of the event, where he entered a room at the library where drag kings or queens were reading stories to children and began screaming, crossed the criminal line.

Dalidowicz said Reimer’s motive for his attack on the event was punctuated by his comments as he left and elevated the conduct to both causing a disturbance and committing mischief by interfering with the lawful use of property.

As Reimer left when police arrived he said “we’ll be back at the next venue. We’re shutting these down. Three cancelled drag events in eight days. Get used to it Calgary,” Dalidowicz noted.

“That is key in terms of understanding what Mr. Reimer intended to do with his behaviour.”

‘We had crying children’: witness testimony

During testimony last September, Calgary Public Library employee Robyn Gray, who organized the event at the Seton branch, testified Reimer was one of three people who interrupted the program.

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And she said the conduct of the local pastor was the most disruptive.

Gray told Dalidowicz the event began at 11 a.m. with a sing-along before one of two guests from Calgary Pride dressed in drag began reading to the children.

“We had approximately 12 to 15 children, and total in the room about 40 to 50 people,” she said.

During the reading of the first book, a woman stood up and said “something along the lines of ‘do you know what you are exposing your children to,’” Gray said, adding the woman started filming proceedings with her phone.

A group of adult participants gathered around her, blocked her ability to video record the event and forced her from the room, Gray said.

After the first reading and during a second sing-along a man entered “shouting religious jargon,” she said.

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Then, a minute or two later, Reimer entered.

“He started yelling, or talking extremely loudly,” Gray said.

Reimer was eventually able to get behind the stage area and near the children.

“We had adults that were visibly shaken. We had crying children,” she testified.

Fradsham said he will hand down a written decision in the case at a later date.

KMartin@postmedia.com

X: @KMartinCourts

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