Homophobic street preacher who ‘intentionally’ broke the leg of vigilante who tried to stop his hate charged with assault
Justin Morissette heard his left leg ‘snap’ when he was jumped on by two homophobic street preachers. (GoFundMe)
A street preacher who hurled hateful homophobia at passersby before shattering the leg of a man who tried to stop him was charged with assault Thursday (October 22).
Dorre Love, 42, and another man were preaching on a street in Vancouver, Canada, on August 22 when a local sportscaster yelled at them to stop.
Justin Morissette grabbed the microphone, attached to a portable address system, from them.
Love reacted furiously, and reportedly attacked the West End resident from behind, twisting him until Morissette heard his left leg “snap”.
Morissette said at the time: “He absolutely one-thousand per cent knew that that was going to happen when he did that, this was a malicious intentional break of my leg.”
The other man had allegedly jumped on his back and placed Morissette into a wrestling lock, according to CBC Canada.
For two months, Dorre Love, an anti-gay street preacher, hurled homophobic ‘hatred’, a local resident claimed. (Screen capture via YouTube)
After initially being released, Love has now been charged with aggravated assaults by the authorities with a warrant out for his arrest.
“The [Vancouver Police Department] thoroughly investigate all allegations of assault and take each one seriously,” constable Tania Visintin said in a press release.
“Investigators have worked hard and we are pleased to see charges have been approved by Crown counsel.”
The Davie Street attack left Justin Morissette with two broken leg bones and a dislocated knee, his brother, Kevin, wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Kevin added: “2020 has brought with it the call to action for civilians to stand up and fight against intolerance and bigotry.
“Justin did exactly this by confronting this group of religious extremist who believed they had a right to spread hate speech. Justin is proud of what he did.”
Homophobic preacher shouted ‘outright hatred’ for two months, says local resident.
Drew Love reportedly spent weeks delivering homophobic sermons, local resident Ron Kidd said, and after the incident was released with an undertaking that he did not return to the neighbourhood again.
Such sermons, he added, were “outrageously insulting if not bordering on outright hatred, and were always broadcast at extremely high volumes”.
Kidd filed a complaint with the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner in September over their handling of the case, according to The Province.
“Despite the extent to which Mr Love disrupted the quiet enjoyment of West End residents of their homes and public places, the VPD failed to continuously monitor Mr Love,” it reads.
“Therefore it missed potential chances to prosecute Mr Love for disturbing the peace or hate crimes since police can only recommend charges if they have witnesses.”
