Conservative MP attacked online after praising police for arrest in alleged homophobic crime

Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri is praising the Peterborough Police for arresting a man accused of hurling homophobic slurs and burning a Pride flag — a move that drew the ire of some social media users who condemned her as a "fake" Conservative.

A 48-year-old man was arrested last week on two charges of criminal harassment after he was accused of stealing a Pride flag, burning it and — according to police — "screaming" anti-gay epithets.

The arrest demonstrates that "hate has no place in our community and our country and will not be tolerated," Ferreri said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.

"Thank you to Peterborough Police for arresting this man," she said, adding that one individual's actions don't speak for her constituents in this mid-sized city about 120 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

At the time of his arrest, the accused was on probation and under a court order instructing him not to utter words, wear clothing or hold signs that are racist, antisemitic or homophobic.

Peterborough Police did not respond to CBC News' request for the individual's name and bail status.

Dozens of social media users responded to Ferreri's praise of the arrest with a stream of homophobic slurs. Others said the man's arrest was unjustified and that as a member of a party that supports free speech, Ferreri was out of line.

One social media user, Shawn Quenneville, told Ferreri in an online post that "they're pedophiles" — an apparent reference to members of the LGBTQ community.

The decades-old claim that gay men molest children at far higher rates than heterosexuals has been repeatedly debunked.

"The liberal agenda with Bill C-16 has gone to far. They want to walk around naked in front of kids. And the cops let them. They want to go to schools in drag costumes and read story time. Thankfully I never had kids," Quenneville said.

Ferreri fired back at Quenneville, saying that gay people are "not pedophiles. Pedophiles are pedophiles, don't lump the radical woke with them."

"The movement supports them," Quenneville said in response, with his tweet drawing more than 100 "likes" on X.

Quenneville did not respond to a request for further comment.

Bill C-16 is Liberal government legislation that extended certain protections to trans people and made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender identity or expression.