Man charged with tossing eggs at Moncton Black Lives Matter march

A man accused of throwing eggs at a Black Lives Matter march this spring in Moncton will have the charge withdrawn if he completes an alternative measures program. 

Scott Beattie of Weldon Street faces a charge of mischief by interfering with the use of property by tossing eggs at a sidewalk and street. 

Beattie was arrested June 1 after a Black Lives Matter march involving hundreds of people that went from Victoria Park along Weldon Street and ended at city hall.

A video posted online of the march as it passes the intersection of Weldon and Gordon Street captured a man screaming racist statements and profanities at the march, though it doesn't show the man. 

Codiac Regional RCMP Staff Sgt. Patricia Levesque said in June that police were called about a resident along the march route shouting racist slurs and throwing objects from a balcony.

At the time, police said the 47-year-old would face charges of assault related to throwing eggs at protesters and inciting hate.

However, the charge approved by the Crown prosecutor is the mischief charge. In New Brunswick, the Crown must approve all charges before they are laid in court. 

Beattie said little during a short appearance in Moncton provincial court Wednesday before Judge Brigitte Volpé.

Volpé was told the Crown had agreed to send the case through alternative measures.

That program, also called diversion, means the accused must be willing to accept responsibility for the charge and meet certain terms by a certain date to successfully complete it. 

The terms Beattie will have to meet weren't mentioned in court. 

Beattie will return to court Feb. 17 and if he has successfully completed the program, the charge will be withdrawn. If he doesn't complete it, the case can still be prosecuted. 

Outside court, Beattie declined comment beyond offering a profanity toward a reporter, while raising his middle finger on one hand and clutching a very large coffee cup in the other.