Edmonton man charged with uttering threats against PM on social media

An Edmonton man has been charged with uttering threats on social media against the Canadian government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Robert Dale Kerr, 41, was taken into custody on Feb. 15 and will appear in provincial court in Edmonton on Thursday, RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.

The RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Edmonton (K-INSET) received information about the threats on Feb. 5, police said.

"K-INSET investigators used evidenced-based and intelligence-led techniques to identify the social media account from which the threatening messages originated," RCMP said.

Further investigation enabled police to identify an address in Edmonton and the individual account holder.

Kerr is charged with one count of uttering threats.

He is banned from being within 500 metres of any place Trudeau may be in attendance.

He is also prohibited from leaving Alberta, and from using any social media sites.

This is the second charge of this type in a month in Alberta.

On Jan, 19 a central Alberta man was charged with uttering threats on Twitter against Trudeau and Premier Rachel Notley.