Gregory Joseph Bayliss appears in this 2016 photo.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK

The man charged with promoting genocide made social media posts rallying for violence at the Okanagan Jewish Centre in Kelowna, sources tell iNFOnews.ca.

The incident took place last June and it appears Gregory Joseph Bayliss of Kelowna was arrested and later released.

It's unclear what conditions Bayliss was released on, but he failed to report to community corrections a month later.

On Jan. 21, Bayliss was charged with rarely used charges for advocating genocide on Jewish people, inciting hatred against Jewish people, and wilfully promoting hatred against Jewish people, he was also charged with causing death or bodily harm against the RCMP.

In a written statement, Okanagan Jewish Community Centre president Laura McPheeters said she didn't know the details behind the charges, but there had been a troubling increase in acts of anti-semitism and anti-semitic violence in the world and in Canada over the past 15 months.

As a former Crown prosecutor and practicing defence lawyer, McPheeters said it is incredibly rare to see these charges which indicates the seriousness of the circumstances.

"This will not be a case of someone merely saying things that are offensive to some, that would not be criminal," McPheeters said. "Offensive speech isn't criminal without some additional elements of intent to bring about a consequence such as killing members of an identifiable group of people or inciting hatred against them that could cause a breach of the peace."

And the charges are incredibly rare.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service there has only been eight other cases since 2016 where individuals have been charged with inciting or promoting hatred against an identifiable group.

The 41-year-old does have a history of harassing behaviour.

In 2011, he was jailed for four months for criminally harassing a former partner in Victoria.

Four years later, in 2015, he was jailed for another two-and-a-half months for criminally harassing a partner in Williams Lake.

In 2022, and now in Newfoundland, Bayliss was sentenced to six months of house arrest in Happy Valley-Goose Bay having been found guilty of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and criminal harassment. It's unclear what Bayliss did but court documents name five individuals whom he wasn't allowed to contact.

Gregory Bayliss appears in this 2018 photo.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK.

During this period of house arrest, he moved back to Kelowna to finish the sentence at his parent's home.

Decade-old social media posts show that Bayliss struggled with substance abuse but was at that time sober.

McPheeters said the Jewish community in the Okanagan has a long history of good relations with other religious and community groups, and is part of this community.  

"In that context, these charges are very troubling and we are pleased and grateful that the Kelowna RCMP and Crown counsel are taking them seriously," she said.

Bayliss was arrested in Kenora, Ontario, and is being transported back to BC and will appear in court at a later date.

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