Pro-family crusader Bill Whatcott detained by ICE after fleeing Canada

“This story is so absurd and disturbing that we almost don’t know where to start,” MassResistance declared. “Over the years, Canadian pro-family Christian activist Bill Whatcott has been the target of a breathtaking amount of vicious ‘lawfare’ by the government in that country — for ‘crimes’ (i.e. writing politically incorrect things) that would never be crimes in the U.S. or most countries in the world.”

In September, Whatcott was found guilty of “hate” against gay men by a Canadian court over flyers that he distributed during a Toronto “pride” event a decade ago. Whatcott was to remain free until his sentencing hearing scheduled for December 16 but was given 24 hours to surrender his passport. 

“Instead, Bill immediately got into his car and drove to the U.S. At that point, the 24-hour period to turn in his passport had not ended,” MassResistance wrote. “Nor was there any warrant for his arrest. Within hours of crossing the border, he signed a contract with PJI (Pacific Justice Institute) to represent him, and to put together the paperwork to formally seek political asylum.”

When a friend was blocked at the U.S.-Canadian border while attempting to deliver Whatcott’s belongings to him, Whatcott telephoned the border facility and was assured that if he came to the facility the situation could be quickly resolved.  

Despite being warned by friends that border patrol had set a trap, Whatcott nonetheless went. 

MassResistance explained:

On October 2, Bill arrived at the Sweetgrass border facility. The Border Supervisor told him everything would be fine, just step into this office. There were two other border officers there. They asked Bill to put his hands against the wall, but then he’d be free to go. Then they handcuffed Bill, told him he was under arrest, and put him in a jail cell. Jonathan received a garbled text from Bill that indicated bad news, before the officers took his phone.

Apparently, the supervisor immediately revoked Bill’s State Department passport waiver and charged him with being in the country illegally.

Bill was in the cell at the Sweetgrass facility for several days. It was miserable. He had to sleep on a concrete floor. There was just one meal each day – of terrible food. He could not clean himself. He could not take the medicine he needed. He was not allowed to talk to his lawyer or anyone else.

On October 7, Whatcott was transferred to the ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, where he remains at this time under slightly better lying conditions. 

The absurdity of the predicament that Whatcott now finds himself in is rooted in the treatment he has received by the Canadian court system as well as U.S. border patrol and ICE.

As noted by MassResistance:

Extradition is only done for serious crimes like murder, kidnapping, etc. – not for passing out a politically incorrect flyer ten years ago. The document itself is not available to the public. But on its face, since Bill’s “crimes” in Canada would not be considered crimes in the U.S., extradition in this case would appear to violate the U.S./Canada Extradition Treaty. 

Adding to Whatcott’s mounting difficulties, his PJI attorney dropped him as a client, leaving him without legal representation.

How it all started

More than 10 years ago, Whatcott had incorporated graphic images and language in flyers he handed out at a Toronto “pride” event. He did so because he was engaged in a self-described “spiritual war” to “strike against the dark forces” of gay pride.

Fast forward to September: According to a report by the Toronto Star, Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy rejected Whatcott’s explanation that he is motivated by his Christian faith to evangelize those who face “eternal peril” if they do not repent.

Molloy reportedly said that the flyers go beyond “distaste, dislike, or merely being offensive. It is intense and extreme. It is hatred.” 

“Looking at the whole picture, Mr. Whatcott, by his actions, has demonstrated a deep animus towards members of the gay community, notwithstanding his testimony that he wants only to save their souls by having them repent their sins. He is far from a simple Christian missionary seeking to convert sinners. He is an activist and an attention seeker. He loves the spectacle of what he did. He enjoyed the attention and he continues to do so,” wrote Judge Molloy, according to the Star. 

“Many of the things included in his flyer standing alone are merely offensive and would not amount to hate. However, the combined effect of the whole flyer, the length to which Mr. Whatcott went to deliver his ‘message,’ the range of people he gave it to and his gloating after the fact all support my ultimate finding that his intention in handing out the flyers at the parade was to vilify gay men. He knew that would be the effect of his actions” the judge concluded.

“Natural law is clear, homosexuality is incompatible with human nature. Disease, death and confusion are the sad and sordid realities of the homosexual lifestyle,” one of Whatcott’s flyers said. 

In another flyer, Whatcott urged recipients to call or email him “if you are tired of your sin and want to come to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and receive the free gift of eternal life.” 

“It’s utterly remarkable how far ‘progressive’ authorities and fanatical LGBTQ activists in Canada have gone to persecute conservative Christian advocate Bill Whatcott. Ten years ago, Bill led a group of dressed-up ‘zombies’ into Toronto’s (perverse, nudity-filled) ‘gay pride’ parade and passed out gospel tracts masquerading as condom packages,” fellow activist Peter LaBarbera said on X of the judge’s ruling.   

“In a ‘retrial’ after previously being found innocent (hello, double jeopardy!), Ontario’s highest court found Bill guilty of ‘willfully promoting hatred’ against homosexuals,” LaBarbera continued. “I know Bill: he may be unorthodox, but does not hate people caught up in homosexuality. Rather, he desires to minister to them by sharing the life-changing Truth of Jesus Christ. That takes real guts in increasingly ‘woke totalitarian’ Canada.”