David Boyd, a Canadian supporter of self-proclaimed social activist Mary John, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with her legal troubles.
John is presently on bail, charged with an offence under the Electronic Crimes Act in connection with a social media post she made on 4th October, 2021.
Following the homicide of Piccadilly resident, Jane Finch, in October 2021, John posted the name, personal details and photo of a woman whom she alleged was responsible for the crime. Minutes after it was published, John removed the post when she apparently learned that the person she accused was not the person ultimately implicated in the crime.
But the damage was done as the original post went viral.
John’s victim claims that she received threatening messages and was the target of other forms of intimidating contact from people who believed Mary John’s inaccurate post.
The woman John blasted and the woman now in police custody share similar names.
John did issue an apology to the wrongfully implicated woman, however it was followed by another very defiant post in which she accused her victim’s aunt, Eurenda Jeremiah, of being “unfair” to her when the family responded in their own social media post to John’s error.
In an attempt to minimise the damage she caused, John said she removed the post after “30 seconds”, used the word “allegedly” and issued an apology.
She continued that she offered to pay legal fees for the victim to consult with lawyers she recommended to them and tried to convince Jeremy that “she has no grounds for a lawsuit.”
In her post on 5th October, John openly stated that she told Jeremy that she could lodge a complaint against her with the Criminal Investigation Department as comments under Jeremy’s post in defence of her niece, John’s victim, were in violation of the Electronic Crimes Act which “will drag her into a long drawn out back and forth with CID and the Magistrates’ Court.”
John also accused the victim of having an “agenda”.
In what turned out to be the mother of all Uno reverse cards, John ended up being the one to run afoul of the Electronic Crimes Act.
In a Magistrate’s Court appearance on 4th January Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh revoked John’s station bail and ordered new bail conditions which increased John’s bail to $10,000, requires her to report to the police station three times per week where she must sign in, and as a further condition of her bail, she was required to surrender her passport.
Chief Magistrate Walsh also warned John not to use her social media pages to commit any offence in contravention of the Electronic Crimes Act or her bail will be revoked.
It is these circumstances that led Boyd to launch the GoFundME which has a goal of CAD$31,500 (USD$25,184.56) which he says will be used to help John cover her legal expenses.
Boyd also wagged a finger at authorities who he suggested were out to get John.
“Law enforcement and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), with whom she has had a rocky relationship in recent years, has thrown the book at her,” Boyd wrote.
So far the fundraiser has received CAD$900.
Mary John returns to court on 24th March for committal proceedings.
