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A Swiss man who pleaded guilty to punching a protester in the face outside an Ottawa defence conference in 2024 was given an absolute discharge Wednesday, a result that was met with angry shouts from supporters of the victim.
David Henschel’s discharge includes a finding of guilt, but no conviction or conditions to follow.
“Your behaviour on the day in question was criminal. It caused harm. However, having considered everything, in my view, the appropriate disposition is an absolute discharge,” Justice Norman Boxall told the court.
Henschel, who has a military background, stood at attention as the discharge was granted and saluted after the judge read it out.
He has 14 days to pay a $5,000 victim surcharge. The judge pointed out that’s substantially higher than the typical $100 fine, but the amount wasn’t related to the assault. Rather, it’s because Henschel failed to appear during his first sentencing appearance earlier this month.
Supporters of the Palestinian-Canadian woman Henschel struck packed the courtroom and shouted “shame” after the decision. Police eventually cleared the crowd out, as some yelled “racist, racist, racist” at Henschel.
Outside court, Bassam Hashem, the father of the victim, said the attack left his family feeling unsafe and his children no longer attend demonstrations.
“We came to this country for one reason … that we can express ourselves. That we are equal citizens,” he said. “Today we were told, ‘No. You are second-class citizens. You can be assaulted and that’s OK.'”
The Crown has already filed a notice of appeal, which calls the sentence “demonstrably unfit.”
Pleaded guilty to assault
Henschel, 58, was an employee of Swiss munitions firm Rheinmetall Waffe Munition Schweiz AG when he attended the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CANSEC) conference in May 2024.
Court previously heard that as Henschel walked toward Ottawa’s EY Centre he interacted with several protesters, one of whom yelled that he was “racist.”
“I’m a f—ing racist and I’m proud of it,” Henschel replied, according to an agreed statement of facts the judge read in court Wednesday.
As he continued walking, Henschel encountered a 21-year-old woman in a hijab who told him he was “actively supporting genocide” by attending the conference.
Henschel swung his arm, intentionally backhanding the protester in the face with a closed fist. As the woman dropped to the ground, Henschel continued walking toward the conference centre, pushing another protester before police stepped in and arrested him.
He pleaded guilty to assault in court last year.
Assistant Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee argued Henschel should spend time in jail for the assault. Henschel’s lawyer James Foord called for a discharge.
The defence relied on the evidence of a psychiatrist who said low blood sugar had caused Henschel to become “irritable,” while his prior military experience had left him with PTSD, specifically a fear of crowds.
Outside court, Foord said his client is “remorseful” and relieved after the judge’s decision.
“What happened in this case is a human experience when people come together and it doesn’t end as well as it should,” said the defence lawyer. “Everybody has something to learn from that.”
The woman who was struck said in a victim impact statement she had been subjected to a “targeted attack meant to hurt and silence me.”
In delivering his sentence, Justice Boxall said he totally rejects that’s Henschel’s actions were racially motivated.
“This was an emotional situation. Mr. Henschel failed to control his emotions, but that does not make it motivated by hate,” said the judge, who described the attack as a “situational and one-time event.”
Boxall also underlined that the woman who was hurt had a legal right to protest.
“She is entitled to protest,” he said. “Mr. Henschel is not entitled to respond violently.”
2nd sentencing date
Wednesday’s appearance was a second attempt at sentencing after Henschel failed to attend court as expected on July 13, instead appearing virtually from Switzerland.
That sparked a strong reaction from Karimjee, who told court that Henschel is “not above the law.”
Defence lawyer James Foord reiterated that his client suffers from PTSD and had “not been doing well at all.”
Boxall agreed to rescheduled the sentencing, warning that if Henschel failed to appear in person a second time a bench warrant would be issued for his arrest and he would be charged with failure to appear.
