Police in London, Ontario, held a press conference this afternoon to announce the arrest of 26-year-old London resident Christopher Moorhouse for allegedly throwing a banana at Wayne Simmonds of the Philadelphia Flyers. The incident happened when Simmonds, one of the NHL's few black players, was attempting a penalty shot during a preseason game last week in London against the Detroit Red Wings. Simmonds has since paid the bigotry forward this week by calling Sean Avery of the New York Rangers a "fucking faggot." But enough about that right now.
The Philadelphia Daily News quoted Brad Duncan, the London police chief:
"Mr.Moorhouse [sic] has been served with a part three summons, and if convicted of this offence - could be liable to a fine of not more than $2,000," Duncan said. "This is a provincial offense and not a criminal charge, and will be dealt with in the provincial offenses court.
"This incident affected, not only our local community, it was across the national and international plane - and obviously individuals have very strong feelings about what occurred and I just wanted to indicate this individual has expressed remorse, notwithstanding the actions that he undertook, but we don't want individuals to go beyond what the court will do in terms of the penalty."
Duncan further added that Moorhouse would not be charged with a hate crime, saying the banana toss did not meet that threshold under Canadian law.
The London (Ontario) Free Press added this:
Police received a lot of tips, including through social media. It was within the last 12 hours that they were able to identify the suspect, Duncan said.
...
Meanwhile, grandparents of the man charged, said he emotionally "broke down" and turned himself into police Tuesday.
He had wanted to be a police officer, they said.
Man who racially targeted Flyers' Simmonds arrested [Philadelphia Daily News]
Suspected banana thrower ID'd and charged [London Free Press]