Swiss man who punched anti-war protester in Canada a no-show in Ottawa court

The Swiss man who pleaded guilty to punching a 21-year-old protester outside an Ottawa defence conference in 2024 did not show up in court on Monday as he was expected to, leaving the Crown in the case livid.

“Look at the audacity of this person,” Moiz Karimjee said inside a packed Ottawa courtroom as he pointed to a TV screen showing the face of offender David Henschel, who unexpectedly attended the sentencing virtually from Switzerland.

“He is not above the law,” Karimjee said.

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 encountered a 21-year-old woman in a hijab who told he him was “actively supporting genocide” by attending the conference.

Henschel swung his arm, intentionally striking the protester in the face with a closed fist. The woman dropped to the ground and Henschel continued walking toward the conference centre, pushing another protester.

He pleaded guilty to assault in court last year.

Moments before Monday’s scheduled sentencing, Karimjee told CBC that Henschel would attend in person, and the court docket also indicated that.

But as court began Monday, an exasperated Karimjee said he’d just learned that Henschel would not be there.

“There was no courtesy notification before today,” Karimjee said.

He said the Crown had to put up “numerous fights” to ensure Henschel would be in Ottawa, and that the victim’s family, who were in court Monday, has been waiting two years for a resolution.

“He may be … a powerful person, but in this court, he is an accused who [pleaded] guilty to assaulting a Canadian citizen,” Karimjee said of Henschel, adding that the lack of notice about his absence was “unacceptable.”

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Karimjee asked Justice Norman Boxall to issue a bench warrant for Henschel’s arrest.

“The community needs to see that justice is done, that everyone is equal before the law,” Karimjee said.

Henschel’s lawyer, James Foord, said Henschel suffers from PTSD and that his client attended sentencing submissions last month under “very difficult” circumstances, and with a “very large crowd” in court.

“He has not been doing well at all. He’s under the care of a psychologist,” Foord said.

After a short break, Boxall agreed to reschedule the sentencing to July 22 and said that if Henschel does not show up in person on that date, a bench warrant will be issued. Karimjee said Henschel would also be charged with failure to appear and contempt of court if he fails to attend.

Boxall said he prepared his decision for Monday on the understanding that Henschel would be in court.

“Being told things at [the] last minute wastes a lot of people’s time,” Boxall told Henschel.

Karimjee has argued that Henschel should spend time in jail for the assault.

Foord has called for an absolute discharge, where a finding of guilt is made but no conviction is registered and the offender is not given any conditions to follow.

In Henschel’s sentencing submissions last month, he relied on the evidence of a psychiatrist who said that low blood sugar had caused Henschel to become “irritable,” while his prior military experience had left him with PTSD, specifically a fear of crowds. 

The struck woman said in a victim impact statement that she had been subjected to a “targeted attack meant to hurt and silence me.”

A local leader on Ottawa’s Palestinian community told court that the violent targeting of a visibly Muslim woman wearing a hijab during a peaceful protest should not be seen as an isolated event, but as part of “an alarming and escalating pattern of anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab sentiment that is increasingly manifesting in acts of physical violence.”