Charges laid against anti-gay street preacher who broke man's leg in West End
Charges for aggravated assault were approved on Thursday against Dorre Love, 42, after he was arrested by Vancouver Police for assault in August.
“The VPD thoroughly investigates all allegations of assault and takes each one seriously,” said VPD Const. Tania Visintin. “Investigators have worked hard and we are pleased to see charges have been approved by Crown counsel.”
Love and another man were preaching along Davie Street on August 22. The victim, identified online as Justin Morissette, a producer with a local radio station, confronted Love and a physical altercation followed.
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Morissette was hospitalized with the injury after what he said was an assault by a group associated with homophobic street demonstrations in his neighbourhood.
He took to Twitter following the incident and said a group of “anti-gay evangelical bullies” broke his leg in the city’s West End. By his account, he confronted the group that was broadcasting a message of intolerance over a loudspeaker.
In a GoFundMe set up by Morissette’s brother, it is alleged that this is the second time the demonstrators have set up a loudspeaker in the area.
“The first time, they spewed their homophobic and transphobic ideologies into their microphones for over an hour,” the description reads. “Residents of the neighbourhood actively called the police asking for these individuals to be stopped — to no avail. The location of their preaching was not unplanned given the historic LGBTQIA2s+ history of Vancouver’s West End.”
According to Morrissette, when he took the microphone from a man he identifies as Love, he was pushed to the ground and says that the group of demonstrators “purposefully broke my leg for the trouble.”
In another tweet, he named Dorre as the attacker.
According to the Vancouver Police Department, around 8 pm on Saturday evening they were called to the area of Davie and Thurlow Street for reports of groups of people using a “microphone and amplifier [to preach] about religion and anti-gay chants.”
Police allege that “one individual” asked them to stop the anti-gay chants and to stop speaking into the microphone.
Two men, both members of the religious demonstrations, were arrested for aggravated assault and mischief. Both of these men were transported to the VPD Jail. They were later released under the conditions that they would stay away from the area and have no contact with the victim. Charges have been recommended but not filed at this time, according to the police.
VPD hate crime investigators have also been called in to investigate if hate was a motivating factor in the assault. They are asking any witnesses they haven’t spoken to to come forward.
The section is also investigating the previous four incidents to see if there is “any criminal element in those investigations.”
Love, who did not identify Morrissette by name, streamed a video to his supporters in which he claimed he was the victim of assault and said he was seeking legal advice.
A warrant has now been issued for Love’s arrest.
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