Woman in Vancouver church vandalism case must write apology note as part of sentence

A woman who admitted to vandalizing a Vancouver church will not serve time behind bars, a judge ruled earlier this week.

A woman who admitted to vandalizing a Vancouver church will not serve time behind bars, a judge ruled earlier this week.

Emily Luba pleaded guilty to a mischief charge involving the defacing of a wall at St. Jude's Parish with paint in July. She entered the same plea to a charge of mischief involving the property of Polaris Realty Canada that occurred last April.

In a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Judge Gregory Rideout told the court Luba had no criminal record.

She'd been a "follower" of the protest group called Braided Warriors, a group that, as described by Rideout, is made up of "Indigenous youth warriors fighting for Indigenous sovereignty on the unceded territories of the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam Nations."

This group was involved at a protest on April 14 at a Liberty Mutual Insurance Company office, targeted because of its involvement in the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, in a property owned by Polaris Realty Canada. Luba was arrested at the site following a demonstration that included padlocks, chains, yelling and swearing, as well as assaulting members of the Vancouver Police Department, according to Rideout's decision, which was posted online. 

It is unclear how much of the action Luba was involved with, but the court heard that she went limp when she was handcuffed to make it harder to bring her to a police cruiser, and that she refused to identify herself.

"It would appear that they anticipated being arrested as they had the name and phone number for a lawyer printed on their arms," Rideout wrote.