Crown asks for jail time for Hamilton man who livestreamed assault, transphobia on city bus

WARNING: This story contains details that readers may find disturbing and offensive.

What Chris Pretula did on a Hamilton bus in 2022 meets the Criminal Code threshold of being a hate-motivated offence, according to Crown attorney Megan Nieuwoudt.  

At Pretula's sentencing hearing Tuesday, Nieuwoudt said as a result of his actions Pretula should serve between four and six months in jail, minus his 92 days in pre-sentence custody, and get two years of probation.

The Hamilton man, 43, livestreamed himself unleashing a transphobic tirade at riders of an HSR bus before kicking one of them in the leg.

Pretula previously pleaded guilty for the assault in August 2022 and for breaching his release conditions. Police charged him with assault a day after CBC Hamilton asked the police service about the video of the incident. 

Pretula said Tuesday he shouldn't be sentenced to any time in jail.

"I don't ever want to go back to jail again, that was hell on earth … that's not a place for a guy like myself," he told Ontario Court Justice Amanda Camara at the John Sopinka Courthouse.

But Nieuwoudt argued while the physical assault itself was minor, the broader context of his hate-filled rhetoric and livestreaming it to a broader audience must be considered and justified jail time.

'Denigration and dehumanization'

Nieuwoudt replayed video of the incident in court which showed Pretula berating and assaulting the HSR riders unprovoked.

"I don't know what this goofball, weird, transformer looking fool is laughing at," Pretula said in the video, pointing toward a passenger seated in front of him.

Later in the video he looks at another rider, a person of colour, and tells them to "go back to Pakistan."

Nieuwoudt said it was a "clear-cut example" of  the "denigration and dehumanization of a group of people in a public space."

She said Pretula denies harbouring any racist or anti-2SLGBTQ+ beliefs but "actions speak louder than words."

Nieuwoudt said if he truly doesn't hold those views, then he's choosing to post that rhetoric online to grow his following and get donations.

She showed other livestreams of him approaching other people and recording them without their consent despite that violating his conditions. She also showed livestreams that appear to show him not taking his house arrest seriously, such as him at the beach. 

Nieuwoudt said putting Pretula behind bars would show the community the justice system denounces his behaviour.

'It was stupid, I apologize'

Pretula's lawyer, Stephen De Wetter, said Pretula's comments on the HSR bus were "shocking" and "disturbing."

He said Pretula shouldn't receive any more jail time, noting he already served time in custody.

De Wetter didn't try to defend the comments but noted Pretula likely sees himself as a "bit of a rebel" and a "rogue interviewer" who enjoys stirring up controversy.

He also highlighted Pretula's willingness to go to anger management and how he has had a tough life.

He said Pretula was shot in his 20s, lost his first-born child to cancer and lives with multiple sclerosis. De Wetter said Pretula cares for his two kids while his wife works and him going to jail would be hard on his family.

Nieuwoudt said he may have had a tough life but that doesn't mean he can channel that into hatred toward others.

Given a chance to speak, Pretula stood up, wearing a grey, long-sleeve shirt and jeans, and apologized.

He said his actions in the video were "disgusting" and he felt bad for the embarrassment he caused the victims.

"I fully understand what I did, I get the gravity of it," Pretula said.

He said he "let a lot of people down." He also said he isn't violent, he is "pretty chill" and "intellectual." He also insisted he does take his house arrest seriously.

"There is nothing I can say, it was stupid," Pretula said of the assault on the bus.

"I apologize, I don't ever want to go before this court again."

Pretula livestreams after court appearance

Pretula declined to do an interview after the court proceedings, but livestreamed Tuesday afternoon and again in the evening.

He said the "optics" of the video of him on the HSR bus were "horrible."

Pretula expressed surprise at how the Crown used his own videos against him and said police are likely monitoring his streams.

He said the Crown "cherry picked" clips from his channel, making it hard for the judge to see that his channel is about "celebrating life and diversity."

Viewers made numerous racist comments in his two streams. Pretula didn't appear to denounce any of them and made a racist joke about Black History Month.

He also said he disagrees with the Crown's request for jail time and addressed the concern he might re-offend. 

"They, for a good reason, feel like I'm going to re-offend because it's kind of the nature of streaming and whatever to be a little more antagonistic at times," he said.

"If I'm walking down the street, pointing cameras in someone's face, they're worried that it's going to pop off and become a thing, which it very well could."

Pretula is set to return to court on April 4 to receive his sentence.