The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) say Jeremy MacKenzie’s arrest was not influenced by the request of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to have Mounties look into comments about his wife.

The founder of the online group “Diagalon” was arrested Wednesday, September 28 in Cole Harbour, NS, on a nationwide warrant in Canada related to charges laid by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Saskatchewan in July.

MacKenzie is charged with assault, pointing a firearm, causing harm, and careless use of a prohibited weapon after police received a report of an alleged assault near Viscount, Sask., in November 2021.

Poilievre said he asked the RCMP to look into the “disgusting” comments MacKenzie made during a live stream over the weekend about the sexual assault of his wife Anaida Poilievre.

In a statement, the RCMP said MacKenzie’s Saskatchewan-level warrant was changed to a Canada-wide warrant on Sept. 21, five days before Poilievre’s request.

The RCMP also say the process of extending the warrant took nearly two weeks because prosecutors needed to gather documents from police in Quebec and Nova Scotia.