Topless Junos protester agrees to $600 high-quality, will keep away from felony file

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An environmental protester who crashed the stage of the 2023 Juno Awards in Edmonton along with her prime off has agreed to pay a $600 high-quality.

Casey “Ever” Hatherly pleaded responsible by her lawyer within the Edmonton court docket of justice Tuesday to an offence below the Trespass Act for disrupting the music awards present.

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Hatherly, an environmentalist concerned in quite a few attention-grabbing capers together with the latest paint-bombing of the Prime Minister’s Workplace, stormed the stage at Rogers Place March 13 with slogans selling motion on local weather change written on her naked higher half. Safety escorted her off stage after a tense interplay with Avril Lavigne, who was presenting an award.

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Hatherly stated she believes the motion was price it.

“Persons are (nonetheless like), ‘Hey, are you the woman within the pink pants?’” she stated by cellphone from B.C. “Persons are recognizing me and placing the actions collectively, which I believe is unimaginable and essential, and implies that clearly I received their consideration and received them speaking about it. I undoubtedly suppose that was price it.”

Hatherly was initially charged with a mischief offence below the Felony Code, which might have carried a felony file. Whereas she agreed to the high-quality, she argued leaping on a stage topless shouldn’t be unlawful.

“I’ve accomplished each these issues a number of instances in my life and by no means has anyone been pursuing expenses,” she stated.

Hatherly is a part of a pro-climate motion group known as On2Ottawa that has been holding occasions throughout Canada in help of a residents’ meeting on local weather points. The occasions embrace a caravan from the West Coast to Ottawa in August.

She feels it’s unfair local weather protesters should cope with felony expenses when corporations and politicians who contribute to local weather change are, in her view, not held to account.

Hatherly stated the Crown in Ottawa is in search of jail time, which is “clearly weighing extra closely on my thoughts.”

“They’re simply making an attempt to make folks scared to face up,” she stated.

Hatherly’s sentence features a $500 high-quality and a $100 sufferer high-quality surcharge, which is able to go to fund victim-supporting organizations.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

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