The Edmonton Police Service has arrested a 62-year-old male in connection with the operation of multiple hate-based websites.
In June 2016, the EPS Hate Crimes Unit began investigating following multiple complaints related to hateful content published across several websites. The websites included daily posts that used strong, hate-based rhetoric that targeted various communities. Some posts allegedly alluded to violent threats and harm against specific individuals.
Following a thorough investigation, that included websites dating from 2014 to the present, Barry Winters, 62, was charged with willful promotion of hatred.
“There is often an assumption of anonymity when crimes are committed in an online forum,” says Const. Trevor Shelrud with the EPS Hate Crime Unit. “We want citizens to know that regardless of the forum, we take hate crime seriously.”