Terror propagandist 'Dark Foreigner' should get 14 years for 'vile' crimes, Crown argues

WARNING: This communicative contains descriptions and images of racist online contented targeting Jews.

Everyone agrees, adjacent the defence. For inciting hate, fearfulness and part by calling for unit against Jews with his terrorist propaganda videos and images, Patrick Gordon MacDonald is going to situation for a important play of time.

At a sentencing proceeding successful Ottawa's Superior Court past week, national Crown prosecutors based retired of Montreal implored the justice to manus down 14 years for MacDonald's "vile" crimes nether the alias Dark Foreigner, portion his defence argued for six to 8 years and about 10 months of recognition for clip already served successful custody and connected bail nether strict conditions.

In April, Justice Robert Smith convicted MacDonald of all three charges helium faced: participating successful violent activity, facilitating violent activity, and inciting hatred against Jews for 1 oregon much violent entities, including the present defunct Atomwaffen Division and the neo-Nazi James Mason. Smith is scheduled to announce his sentencing determination successful aboriginal September.

Until then, MacDonald, 28, remains connected bail surviving with his parents under physics monitoring and different conditions. The Crown doubly applied to person him brought backmost into custody (upon his condemnation and astatine the sentencing proceeding past week), but the justice sided with the defence. MacDonald has not breached his conditions.

In 2018 and 2019 — erstwhile helium was 20 and 21 — MacDonald helped create and share three racist, hate-fuelled panic recruitment videos successful Ottawa, Belleville, Ont., and Saint-Ferdinand, Que., among different places.

One video shows radical wearing skull masks moving done a wooded country and shooting firearms. Near the end, the flags of the U.S., Israel and European Union are shown connected the ground, being drenched successful an accelerant and acceptable connected fire, interspersed with shots of equipped people storming a gathering successful tactical formation.

The video includes a slur against Jews. "Stay tuned shooters," is the past text to appear.

'An astir indescribable antagonistic impact'

Court heard a unfortunate interaction connection from B'nai Brith Canada written by 1 of the Jewish quality rights organization's regional directors, Henry Topas.

MacDonald, hunched guardant with his elbows connected his knees, watched from the courtroom gallery, his parents sitting respective rows down him arsenic they person passim his trial.

"The videos helium helped nutrient were designed to promote a gyration to destruct the 'Jewish system' and to promote viewers to 'purge the weak,'" Topas told the judge, appearing via video.

"To Mr. MacDonald and the Attomwaffen Division, we are a illness successful request of eradication to alteration the constitution of a achromatic ethno-state. Such dehumanization has an astir indescribable antagonistic interaction connected our community.

"Canadian Jewry did not past the Holocaust, pogroms, and different unimaginable atrocities and hardships to look threats of annihilation from neo-Nazi terrorists successful our adopted homeland," helium continued. "Our forefathers did not perpetrate themselves to contributing to the betterment of Canadian nine for their progeny to look calls for our eradication."

More witnesses called

The Crown produced 2 caller witnesses for the two-day sentencing hearing: an "analyst" moving successful the nationalist information sphere whose individuality is shielded by a work ban, and adept witness Matthew Kriner, enforcement manager of the Acceleration Research Consortium and Institute for Countering Digital Extremism.

Prosecutors Carly Norris and Catherine Legault said the calls for execution successful the propaganda are particularly aggravating, and that the tribunal needs to nonstop a beardown connection that radical can't publish content similar MacDonald's online, past propulsion up their hands and accidental they're nary longer liable for it.

"Because determination are radical our determination who volition devour this, and devour it and devour it ... young radical who tin easy beryllium manipulated," Norris told court.

Defence lawyer Douglas Baum said that successful Canada, MacDonald's "obviously repulsive" beliefs and propaganda ne'er amounted to thing much "than an evil fantasy," with nary links to existent convulsive action.

He besides pushed backmost against the Crown's argument that MacDonald's propaganda volition unrecorded online forever, radicalizing some and instilling fearfulness successful others. Baum told the judge MacDonald can't beryllium held liable for the net property and the nationalist domain wherever his content circulates — "otherwise helium tin ne'er flooded this. Otherwise determination is nary redemption."

'My remorse is sincere'

MacDonald, a first-time offender, work a statement saying helium takes "full responsibility" for his actions and is "sorry for the atrocious things I said and drew. I privation to ne'er bash thing similar this again."

He apologized to the "broader Canadian assemblage with all of its diversity: Jewish, Muslim, Black, Indigenous, Asian, and anyone other I missed.

"My remorse is sincere, and I anticipation you tin judge it."

He besides thanked the organizations helium has volunteered with for the past 2 years, creating logos and posters. The organizations see a daycare, Ottawa's Scottish society, a Scottish tube band, a Catholic church's exile outreach committee, the Canterbury Community Association, an Indian festival, the Knights of Columbus, and the involution programme itself.

'Did not instrumentality afloat responsibility'

A pre-sentence study written by MacDonald's probation officer, dated June 20, said MacDonald "disputes immoderate of the details of his offences" and "did not instrumentality afloat work for his actions," but added that MacDonald didn't contradict that helium was progressive successful achromatic supremacist, neo-Nazi subcultures.

He took part successful an involution programme for radical with hateful, biased oregon extremist ideologies from August 2023 to June 2025, and met weekly with his caseworker.

The Crown pointed retired that a missive from the involution program about MacDonald's information contained nary reappraisal of his progress, thing astir whether he renounced his ideologies, and nary notation of whether he's likely to reoffend. Defence lawyer Doug Baum countered that he didn't inquire for opinions similar those due to the fact that it would magnitude to "speculation" astir what's going connected successful his client's mind.

MacDonald and his household told the probation serviceman that he has renounced achromatic supremacist, neo-Nazi ideologies.

The report notes that due to the fact that of MacDonald's existent ineligible jeopardy, it's "difficult, if not impossible" to measure whether that's true, "however each the accusation disposable to the writer indicates the taxable has made affirmative changes successful this regard."

Lacked direction, didn't acceptable in

His parents were "adamant" that racist oregon achromatic supremacist views were not taught astatine home, the study states.

MacDonald told the probation serviceman that he lacked direction successful his precocious teens and aboriginal 20s and got caught up successful the achromatic supremacist, neo-Nazi subculture, which supported him erstwhile helium started creating his panic propaganda. But helium said helium wasn't pleased with his beingness astatine that time, and that the subculture was a "scapegoat" for his idiosyncratic problems.

Around the clip helium learned that constabulary and quality officers were looking into him successful 2021-2022, "he started to rethink his beliefs and to absorption much connected himself alternatively of broader governmental issues," the study states.

Attention from instrumentality enforcement has negatively impacted his life, his household told the officer. MacDonald said his narration with a long-distance woman ended successful 2022 aft the Canadian Security Intelligence Service contacted her, and his parent believes helium wasn't getting enactment due to the fact that imaginable employers were contacted by police.

He can't person a slope relationship due to the fact that the RCMP are investigating his finances, helium said, and he's on Ontario Works for fiscal support.