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A Saskatchewan man previously convicted of assault, harassment and promote hatred was found guilty of falsely representing himself as a protective services officer at the University of Saskatchewan in the summer of 2023.

Wearing a black and gray plaid shirt and refusing to represent the jury, Travis Mitchell Patron stared straight ahead as the verdict was read Friday afternoon.

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Jurors deliberated for four hours in the second of Patron’s three jury trials in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench this year. The 33-year-old will remain in custody until his sentencing hearing scheduled for December 19.

When Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown asked Patron, who represented himself at five separate trials in Saskatchewan over the past three years, if he wanted a pre-sentence report, Patron replied: “I maintain my innocence.” »

On Monday, Savannah Zalik, an employee at the University of Saskatchewan, testified that she was walking through “the Bowl” – a green space in the middle of campus – when a stranger approached her on a trail shortly after 10:30 a.m. August 1. , 2023.

She said the man identified himself as a member of Protective Services and asked if he could accompany her across campus. She said she was suspicious because he wasn’t wearing a uniform and because the campus’ Safewalk program is conducted on demand.

After declining his offer, they separated and Zalik reported the encounter to campus security, the court heard.

Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli asked Zalik how the interaction made her feel.

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“It’s a little uncomfortable, because to my knowledge, this person was not a protective services officer,” she responded.

She said the man’s tone had a bit of authority and she remembered his eyes being “intense and piercing.” Zalik identified Patron in the courtroom as the man who approached her.

In 2022, Patron was convicted of assaulting two Regina women he met at a bar after refusing to go home in 2019.

Zalik agreed with Patron during cross-examination that their interaction was cordial and she thanked him for the offer. Boss then asked if she was really grateful. She said no. He then asked her if she believed in chivalry, to which she replied, “I don’t know.”

Boss, referring to himself in the third person, suggested that Zalik felt like he had an authority or duty to protect, in part because his initial statement described him as wearing a long brown shirt of type security.

“I didn’t think he had any authority,” Zalik responded.

She said she later learned that Patron was a political party leader. He then asked her if she knew that as party leader he enjoyed “judicial privilege” on the University of Saskatchewan campus. She said she didn’t know anything about it.

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Patron continues to present himself as the current leader of the far-right Canadian Nationalist Party. The party was delisted in 2022 for failing to demonstrate compliance with the requirement to have at least 250 members.

Zalik told Patron she was unaware of a Safewalk program that operates in a room adjacent to the international student lounge, where people are not required to wear uniforms. Boss asked how she would know that a person offering a “safe walk” must wear a uniform if they have never worn one before.

Zalik said she knew what campus officers wore and believed they were running the program on their own.

Cpl. Justin Durette of Protective Services testified that they offer a Safewalk program, upon request, staffed by student volunteers who do not have to wear a uniform.

Jurors did not justify their decisions, but Morelli argued that Patron specifically said he was a member of Protective Services, peace officers who enforce traffic laws and respond to calls on campus.

It is illegal to impersonate any type of peace officer.

Patron testified that he is a peace officer because of his political position and that he was initiating civil proceedings attempting to nationalize the university. He admitted interacting with Zalik, but said he told him he was responsible for campus security.

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Patron was also found guilty of violating an October 2022 probation order to maintain the peace and be of good behavior. The order was part of a punishment he received after being found guilty of deliberately inciting hatred.

Under cross-examination, Durette testified that Protective Services issued a trespass notice to Patron on May 16, 2023, three months before his arrest on campus.

When Patron asked why it was posted, Durette said there had been previous reports that Patron was spreading hate speech, harassing people and impersonating university employees.

He agreed with Patron that a person has the right to know why they are being charged with trespassing, but denied Patron’s claims that he had used “force” during his arrest, including kicking him, insulting him and making fun of his haircut.

In January, Patron was found guilty of harassment an interracial couple at Midtown Mall in Saskatoon on July 30, 2023 – two days before the University of Saskatchewan incident. He lost his call in September.

He is also accused of impersonating a peace officer while harassing a woman in the city’s downtown on July 29, 2023. His trial on that charge is scheduled for December.

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