Alleged threats against P.E.I. premier lead to charges
A P.E.I. man has been charged with making threats against P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan.
Richard Leonard Wright, 49, of St. Patricks, is charged with uttering a threat to cause serious bodily harm or death, possessing of four unlicensed firearms, and possession of marijuana.
The threats were allegedly made on Sunday.
"We were alerted on Tuesday of this week about a very concerning post about threats to the premier, Wade MacLauchlan, threatening to cause bodily harm or death to the premier," said Cpl. Dan D'Amour, Queens District RCMP.
"We're taking uttering death threats quite seriously. The reason we're taking it seriously is the combination of uttering threats and having the means to convey the threat with the weapons found."
The firearms in question were a Marlin 30-30 rifle, a Marlin .32 calibre rifle, a Remington .308 calibre rifle, and a .22 calibre rifle. The weapons were found with ammunition, says D'Amour.
Wright was arrested on Wednesday.
He appeared in court Friday morning for a hearing, where it was decided he should continue to be held in custody. Wright told the court he does not have a lawyer and does not want one. He was ordered not to have contact with family members until his next court appearance, because police want to interview them.
D'Amour said the RCMP "feel quite comfortable that he's operating alone."
MacLauchlan was sworn in as premier Monday, after being named leader of the Liberal Party on Saturday.
Robert Vessey, the premier's chief of staff, says he's not concerned.
"In public life you have all sorts of different things that can happen and we're moving forward business as usual," said Vessey.
If the premier's office feels there is a threat to MacLauchlan, they can make a request to RCMP for personal protection, D'Amour says.
