A Montreal man has been charged with uttering threats towards Quebec Premier Jean Charest and his children after a video appeared on YouTube.
Maxime Brown was ordered not to come within 200 meters of Charest’s home and workplace, or his children’s school. The 25-year-old was forbidden from possessing guns and taking part in student political protests. He’s also banned from using the Internet or having a computer.
In a video published at the weekend, a man was shown wielding a sword bought at a flea market and rapping about Charest and his children. The video was posted by a YouTuber calling himself “Maxi Cube.”
The video was titled “Charest va payer cher!!!!” (“Charest is going to pay dearly”) and was apparently tagged with the keywords “sketch” and “gag.”
Though the original YouTube video was taken down, it is still available to view on TwitVid and was reposted by another YouTuber.
The Facebook account for “Maxi Cube” has a number of updates, translated from French by OpenFile, related to the video that were posted Sunday.
“If I am prosecuted for this, I will have accomplished my goal of creating a scandal with Jean Charest. A warning to those who know me, don’t worry about me killing anybody, this is just a video that goes too far so I assume I know what will follow…”
“What’s the problem? I said out loud what everybody was thinking to themselves and now you’re against me! No! You’re hypocrites if you think otherwise because I exaggerate a situation in all this madness, if you don’t like it, it’s all good, but to say that I will go to prison for this, I am waiting for just that because it won’t happen and even if it did, I know my rights as a citizen and I know how to have a laugh. So if this video causes trouble, know this, I expected it.”
“Cube” also stated that he never meant any harm, he was sorry, and that he would never threaten anyone because he is a peaceful person. He claimed he was just playing a character and if people didn’t understand that then they’re morons. “Cube” added people are close minded and will do anything to ruin someone’s reputation.
In the last post on the account before Brown’s arrest, “Cube” said provincial police force Sûreté du Québec (SQ) watched all his his previous videos and that he has no intention to kill anyone. He claimed if he has to go to court to prove that, he will because he is not what people are saying he is.
The SQ arrested Brown Monday morning and searched his home for evidence.
“The SQ takes very seriously any form of threat and intimidation and attempt to trace its author, who may face criminal charges, regardless of his intentions,” Sergeant Claude Denis said.
Brown will return to court on June 11.
Photo via YouTube