Pop Goes The News — A lawyer running to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate claims he was denied entry to Canada last week to deliver a speech.

Augustus Invictus was scheduled to speak at Vancouver’s Cathedral Square on Friday night at a rally organized by Vancouver for Free Speech.

According to a Facebook description of the event, Invictus was to talk about “the common struggle of Americans and Canadians as Westerners.”

Vancouver for Free Speech warned that an “extremist left-wing” organization threatened violence against Invictus and anyone who attended the rally.

Invictus claims Canada Border Services detained him for three-and-a-half hours.

“I was interrogated about my affiliation with neo-Nazis, about the charges of Facism, and about allegations of racism,” he recalled in a press release posted on his campaign website.

Invictus alleged agents ordered him to remove his shirt so they could look for tattoos with neo-Nazi symbols.

“I was a politician traveling to give a speech and yet they treated me like a gang member trying to run guns across the border,” he fumed.

“They said that no good could come of my entry into the country because violence would certainly ensue.

“Clearly the Canadian government values the right of violent protest for communists more than they value the right of free speech for all.”

Invictus added “there is no question my expulsion from Canada was due to political reasons.”

By law, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is prohibited from commenting on any specific individual but, in a statement, the agency said anyone entering the country “must demonstrate they meet the requirements to enter and/or stay in Canada.

“Several factors are used in determining admissibility into Canada, including: health or financial reasons, security, or involvement in criminal activity, human rights violations, or organized crime.”

Invictus was not banned from Canada and can appeal the CBSA decision or re-apply for entry at a later date.

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Invictus, who adopted his Roman name, is running for Rubio’s vacated Senate seat as a Libertarian Party candidate. His legal defence of neo-Nazi groups have led to accusations that he is a white supremacist. (The 32-year-old father of four Hispanic children insists he is not.)

Invictus also made headlines when he admitted to killing a goat and drinking its blood after surviving a walk from Florida to the Mojave Desert. He has also publicly described a fantasy he had of raping a woman he saw in a bar.

Supporters reacted on social media.

https://twitter.com/FilmBUFF82/status/705768293496446976

https://twitter.com/Lauren_Southern/status/705641410850979840