Patron sentenced for impersonating a peace officer twice in Saskatoon

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A Saskatchewan man with a criminal history of harassment, assault and promoting hate was ordered to serve 102 days in jail for impersonating a peace officer twice within four days in Saskatoon.

The two sentences for Travis Mitchell Patron were imposed separately in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.

In December, a jury convicted Patron, 33, of criminal harassment and impersonating a peace officer in connection with an incident outside the James Hotel in the city’s downtown on July 29, 2023.

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The jury heard Patron tried to stop a woman and her five-year-old child, demanding the woman answer his questions while purporting to be an officer.

The woman testified that when she declined, Patron continued to follow her while accusing her of abducting her African Canadian daughter. He only stopped after the woman sought help inside the hotel, witnesses testified.

Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli asked Justice Ronald Mills to make a finding of fact that the crime was motivated by racism or prejudice.

“The court found that Mr. Patron has a bias against interracial couples and that was the motivation for (his) crime,” Morelli said.

Patron, who self-represents at all his trials, argued that the Crown didn’t prove that the woman was the child’s biological mother.

Mills sentenced him to 15 months on the harassment conviction and 300 days concurrent for impersonation. With a remand credit of almost a year in custody, he has 102 days — just over three months — left to serve.

Patron was also sentenced to 244 days time served, plus a day served by his presence in court, after a jury convicted him in November of impersonating a University of Saskatchewan Protective Services officer.

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Around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2023, Patron approached a woman in the U of S “bowl,” told her he was a protective services officer and asked to escort her across campus.

The woman, who worked on campus, testified that she called campus security because Patron wasn’t wearing a uniform, and she believed that escorted walks were by-request.

Court heard Patron had been banned from campus since May 2023 after reports were made about him spreading hate speech, harassing people and impersonating university employees.

Patron was also convicted of breaching an October 2022 probation order to keep the peace and be of good behaviour. The order was part of a one-year sentence he received after being convicted of promoting hatred against Jews in an online video.

During his November trial, Patron testified that he is a peace officer because of his political position, and was undertaking a civil process by trying to nationalize the university.

Patron, who is from Redvers, Sask., continues to call himself the leader of the far-right Canadian Nationalist Party; the party was deregistered in 2022.

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During his harassment sentencing, Patron said he disagrees with the proceedings and is not guilty of the offences.

He will be on two separate probation orders after his release from custody. The conditions ban him from contacting either complainant, and from being on the U of S campus or at the James Hotel.

His 12-month probation order, stemming from the harassment conviction, also requires him to take personal counselling or anger management as required.

Patron is also prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years.

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