Calgary pastor charged in drag story time disruptions headed back to court

The trial for a local pastor with a history of disrupting drag story times gets underway Wednesday.

Derek Reimer is expected to be in Calgary Courts for the next three days.

On Jan. 15, Reimer — head of Mission 7 Ministry was escorted away from a drag brunch being held at the Rec Room.

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Several weeks later, he was arrested and charged with mischief and criminal harassment for disrupting a drag story time event at the Seton Public Library on Feb. 25.

That event was geared toward children, where drag queens would read books to kids between the ages of six and eight.

Then, he popped up again at two similar events on March 13 and 15, and was arrested on the 15th for breaching his bail conditions, requiring he stay 200 metres away from drag events.

These disruptions even prompted Calgary Major Jyoti Gondek to enact a bylaw restriction for the right to protest near these events.

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• Calgary pastor Derek Reimer faces 8 more charges 

• Calgary drag community gets support at library story times after escalating protests

He was later granted bail, only to re-offend three days later.

Back in April, Reimer was handed eight additional hate-motivated charges, including criminal harassment, causing a disturbance, and breaching release conditions.

He was said to have provoked fear among library staff by shouting hateful slurs into a microphone.

Now, he’s back in court, where it’s likely he’ll be until Friday.