The head of a Pride group is blasting the Oxford County Crown Attorney’s office, saying she’s “disgusted” by the crown’s decision to drop charges against a man accused of stealing a Pride flag last summer.
The head of a Pride group is blasting the Oxford County Crown Attorney’s office, saying she’s “disgusted” by the Crown’s decision to drop a charge against a man accused of stealing a Pride flag last summer.
“I’m absolutely disgusted and horrified. This sends a very, very scary and dangerous message for our community,” Tami Murray, president of the Oxford County Pride Committee, said Wednesday.
“I think that it sends a message for the 2SLGBTQIA-plus community that they are not safe in Oxford County and, specifically, in Norwich. . . . Apparently hate crime is OK in Oxford County.”
Jacob Dey, 48, of Tillsonburg was charged last June by Oxford OPP with theft of less than $5,000 after several pride flags were stolen and vandalized in Norwich Township.
Court records show the charge against Dey was withdrawn in December.
The Crown withdrew the charge after Dey completed a direct accountability program, in which a person completes a set of community-based requirements, such as community service hours or a letter of apology, and owns up to their actions. Such a program doesn’t lead to a criminal record.
No peace bonds – an agreement with the court to obey set conditions for a given period of time – appeared to be attached to the charge withdrawal, according to a Woodstock courthouse employee.
Dey, whose lawyer could not be reached for comment, also made headlines last year for drawing comparisons between the Pride movement and the Nazis during a Norwich council meeting.
“We can also think of the 1930s where an artist stood up and started a social movement and got into politics,” Dey is heard saying in an audio of the June 2022 meeting obtained by The Free Press, referencing Nazi leader Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Germany. “The first thing he did is pump up his nation to tell them they’re bigger, better, faster.”
Dey continued: “The second thing that this man also did, along with that, is turn to the children,” he said, describing the formation of the youth wing of the Nazi party and a movement that ultimately led to the Holocaust, the systematic murder by the Nazis during the Second World War of six million Jews.
It was “an extreme example of what a movement can do when we allow ourselves to be brought along with emotions,” he told the politicians, adding, “if we allow this to continue it will be the destruction of this nation from the inside out . . . it is a movement that does not fall under any of these protected minorities whatsoever.”
Both incidents sparked an outpouring of support for members of the LGBT community by Norwich residents, many of whom placed Pride flags outside their homes and along the town’s main street.
Among those who showed their support was Alisha Stubbs, who now sits on township council.
“In my current role as councilor, all I can say is that I’m committed to ensuring that the safety of Norwich is of imminent priority and that any future hate crimes are discontinued and absolutely followed up on from a police standpoint,” she said Wednesday.
Murray, the pride group president, said the withdrawal of the charges makes it even more important for the community to rally and continue to support the LGBT community.
“Do I think that our community will continue to mobilize, advocate and activate? Absolutely,” she said.
Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General couldn’t provide a comment on the decision to withdraw charges against Dey by press time.