Man who livestreamed transphobic rant while riding HSR sentenced to jail

A Hamilton man who livestreamed a transphobic, hate-filled rant while riding a city bus has been sentenced to jail.

41-year-old Christopher Pretula was given a 225-day global sentence in court Thursday for assault and breaching the conditions of a previously issued release order.

Upon his release, Pretula will undergo a two-year probation period. He’s also received a 10-year weapon prohibition and was ordered to pay a $200 victim fine surcharge.

READ MORE: Trial of man in video of transphobic, racist HSR rant continues

Pretula’s case dates back to the summer of 2022 when he live-streamed a vitriolic rant while aboard an HSR bus.

In the video, he makes several transphobic, homophobic and racist remarks to several passengers and, at one point, holds his clenched fist alongside a passenger’s face in a threatening manner.

The incident landed Pretula in jail just days later. At the time, police said they were looking at the possibility of a hate crime charge.

Following his initial arrest, Pretula was given a conditional release, which he later broke too, when he filmed a person without their permission while in Toronto.

The nearly two-year court case included several contentious moments as Pretula continually posted on social media — despite the measurable and detrimental effect it had on his defence.

After his initial arrest in 2022, Pretula posted several videos, which the judge referred to on Thursday as continued examples of his “prejudice, bias and hate.”

In one video, Pretula verbally harassed a man while on a trail in Hamilton by making homophobic comments and asking the man to cuddle.

Another video that he posted of a beach, which crown attorney Megan Nieuwoudt used to support her argument for a jail term, was titled “Being on house arrest is hard.”

READ MORE: Man behind livestreamed hate-filled HSR rant apologizes in court

Pretula issued an apology during court in February. At the time, he said the video he made was disgusting, deplorable and called the behaviour beneath him.

“It is a disgusting video, it’s not how I act. It’s a fluke incident. I feel bad for the victims, I’m sure it’s affected their lives in many ways. There’s nothing I can say. I apologize,” he said at the time.

The judge presiding over the case called it one of “public denigration and humiliation,” and said it likely had a significant impact on the complainants because it was shared online.

“The rhetoric was intended to dehumanize a group of people in a public space,” the judge said in their ruling while weighing the aggravating factors.

Still, Pretula demonstrated a willingness to accept responsibility in front of the court and pled guilty to the assault. His desire to participate in anger management and his role as a supporting member of his family were mitigating factors in his final sentencing of 225 days for his crime.

READ MORE: Hamilton police arrest man, 41, following disturbing transphobic, homophobic rant on HSR bus

With the time he has already served, both before and during the trial, 133 days remain on his 225 day sentence.

Violetta Nikolskaya the Director of Inclusion and Engagement at YWMCA Hamilton said they believe a just sentence must include restorative justice, which aims to repair the relationships, damages, and pain that has been caused in the aftermath of crimes and incidents like these.

Nikolskaya said “sentencing focused solely on jail time really puts a lot of the onus back on the community to do a lot of the work off healing and repairing the harm that was caused.

According to Dean Lobo from The 519, the latest StatCan report said there has been an increase of 12 percent in hate crimes targeting race and sexual orientation since the pandemic. With even more that are not being reported.

Pretula had a live stream scheduled for 4 p.m. on Thursday on his YouTube channel with the title “Season 3 of the tickler experience begins. Court Sentencing update.” But he is now behind bars.

-With files from Emily Tayler, Joanna Petropoulos and Alex Last