Man charged with mischief after pride sidewalk mural at U of Sask. vandalized

A Saskatoon man is charged with mischief after the multi-coloured pride mural on a sidewalk at the University of Saskatchewan was defaced on Saturday.

Police arrested the man on May 2 and charged him with mischief. As part of his release, he was not supposed to return to the campus.

But he was arrested again on campus on May 4.

He appeared by video in provincial court Tuesday charged with breaching his undertaking. 

Prosecutor Kim Humphries agreed to his release again — providing he promised not to return to campus.

The accused would not give such an assurance. Judge Monar Enweani asked whether he would have private counsel or would require legal aid for his bail hearing on Thursday.

"My lawyer is Christ," he replied.

Jory McKay, vice-president of student affairs with the University of Saskatchewan Students' Union, said he heard about the vandalism from friends shortly after it first happened.

"At first it was a lot of anger, and then it shifted to more of me questioning why someone had decided to deface the sidewalk," said McKay.

McKay said it appeared that someone painted the words "The hope for a sodomite is ..." but were unable to complete the sentence. It has since been painted over.

He said that the vandalism showed how the community pulls together when faced with such attacks.

"It's something that I'm forever grateful for, the support we actually get for our community whenever these kinds of incidents happen," he said.