CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island — A man convicted of assault for shoving a plate of whipped cream in the face of Prime Minister Jean Chretien received a 30-day jail sentence Wednesday.
Evan Brown, 24, an actor and playwright, also must pay $33 to a victim compensation fund.
Brown sighed and shrugged at the sentence for assaulting Chretien during the prime minister’s visit last August to Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada.
“I still believe it was a non-violent protest,” he said. Brown was protesting what he sees as arrogance and a lack of accountability by Chretien’s government.
The incident raised concerns about Chretien’s security. He was walking through a crowd shaking hands when Brown approached and pushed the plate of whipped cream into his face.
Police immediately arrested Brown, while a startled and angry Chretien went to clean up.
“It’s time the government was made accountable,” Brown shouted in August as he was led away by police. “It sure … doesn’t happen in this country.”
Brown could have received up to five years in prison for the assault conviction.
Prosecutor Valerie Moore said she asked for jail time to send the message that “one cannot violate the personal integrity of a public figure to make a political statement.”
Brown’s lawyer, Jim Hornby, called a jail sentence extreme, likening it to using an axe on a souffle.
Throwing pies at public figures has become a sporadic form of protest in recent years, mostly in Francophone Quebec province. Other targets have included actor Sylvester Stallone, former Quebec Premier Jacques Parizeau, Montreal Mayor Pierre Bourque and International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
A Montreal-based group that has been responsible for previous pie attacks says it targets people who take themselves too seriously.
