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OTTAWA — Issuing death threats against public officials has landed a fringe Ottawa mayoral candidate behind bars.
Geoffrey Nicholas Griplas, who registered his candidacy under the name “Geoff Nicholas,” faces two counts each of criminal harassment and uttering death threats connected to a string of social media posts levying threats against Ontario Premier Doug Ford and incumbent Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, who is also running in next month’s civic ballot.
According to court documents obtained by CBC News , the offences reportedly took place in Kingston, where he was arrested by local police on Tuesday.
Records also suggest he’s no stranger to police, having faced multiple harassment charges.
Facebook timeline full of concerning posts
Court records point to a number of troubling public Facebook posts, which as of press time, are still visible on the accused’s timeline.
In a video posted on Monday, a person wearing a baseball cap and sweatshirt over his face is seen sitting inside a vehicle, waving a revolver with its cylinder swung out.
“Mark…. my words, allu-ha akbar! Allu-ha akbar!” the man in the video says, mispronouncing the takbir — an Arabic phrase meaning “God is great” often used by Islamist terrorists conducting terrorist attacks.
“Dead! Dead! Dead!”
That video, which was entitled “The Great Debate is approaching,” came two days after Griplas posted an AI-created image of a revolver spraying ketchup at a sign posted on a tree across the street from Centre Block.
“Kill Da Cliff,” “homo,” and “dud” are written on the sign.
“There’s a price to be paid when you clear out HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS with no real plan to house these great people!” the image is captioned.
“Shame on you Mark!”
On Saturday, a two-minute and 39-second video posted to Griplas’ timeline shows a trashed hotel room with words and racist epithets scrawled on the bed, walls and furniture.
While much of it is unintelligible, the bed linens and walls are defaced with marker and what appears to be either blood or ketchup.
What appears to be “F*** FORD” and “KILL FORD” appear on the bedsheets, and “MUST KILL DAWG N***** LOVER FORD” written in marker on a lampshade.
“F*** DA N***** LOVER RIP FORD” is also written on a desk, along with “TRUMP #1,” “PUTIN #1” and threats against Stormy Daniels and more racial slurs.
The only sound on the video is a man at the end picking up a phone and saying, “Yes, hello, it’s the mayor calling.”
Not his first brush with elections
Despite his charges, Griplas will still appear on the ballot on election day, as per the Municipal Elections Act.
Griplas made an unsuccessful bid for an eastern Ottawa city council seat in 2018, finishing second-to-last with only 65 votes.
In a video posted to YouTube five years ago , Griplas is seen delivering an erratic and eccentric speech during an all-candidates forum.
“I said yo, yo, yo — my name is Double-G and I came to do this properly,” the video starts off, describing himself as a social worker, a coach, a “successful business owner,” but also with a history of homelessness and incarceration.
He also claimed that, in 2015, he was brainwashed to perform acts of terrorism against his will.
“Overcoming the abuse has been very difficult, but I pushed myself back into the community, I got involved, I began volunteering and, et voila, I found my purpose again. I made people’s day.”
He also claimed in the video to have a “PhD in la-dee-da-dee-da,” and called for smart municipal growth and more inclusionary housing policy.
bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume