The man who threw gravel at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a September 2021 campaign event in London, ON has pleaded guilty to assault..Shane Marshall, a former People's Party of Canada riding association president, entered a guilty plea Tuesday to the lesser charge of common assault. His trial on charges of assault with a weapon was supposed to start that day..According to Marshall's lawyer, the plea likely means he will avoid jail time in sentencing..During court, Marshall admitted he picked up and threw a handful of gravel at the prime minister while he was boarding a campaign bus on Sept. 6, 2021, two weeks before the federal election. Trudeau was not injured..During that election, crowds upset with Trudeau's COVID-19 vaccine mandate policies would often follow him on the campaign trail to protest..Following the incident, then-Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said the incident was "disgusting" and that political violence is "never justified.".Marshall was charged days after the incident, as police reviewed social media images of the incident and matched Marshall with a mug shot that St. Thomas police already had on file..Marshall's guilty plea came a day after his lawyers unsuccessfully argued in Ontario Superior Court to subpoena Trudeau to testify in the case. The lawyers wanted to question Trudeau about conflicting statements about the rock-throwing incident..The sentencing is scheduled for May 1 in a London courtroom.
