Prosecution argues satire doesn't cancel out hate in trial of alleged Montreal neo-Nazi

A dozen protesters demonstrated in front of the Montreal courthouse Friday, as final arguments resumed in the trial of Gabriel Sohier-Chaput, 35, an alleged neo-Nazi who wrote under the pseudonym "Zeiger."

The demonstrators, some of them from the Montreal Antifascist collective, said they had no faith in the justice system, "so we're making it clear we won't tolerate fascism."

Sohier-Chaput, who has admitted to writing between 800 to 1,000 articles for the far-right online publication the Daily Stormer, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of wilful promotion of hate propaganda against Jewish people. If convicted, the Montreal man could face up to two years in jail.

The defendant appearing via video link for the Crown's closing arguments.

Defence lawyer Hélène Poussard had wrapped up her arguments March 3, describing Sohier-Chaput's actions as offensive and in poor taste but "not advocating for hate."

Prosecutor Patrick Lafrenière responded Friday that Sohier-Chaput's writing went beyond being offensive and did indeed incite hatred against Jewish people.

'Non-stop Nazism, everywhere'

The case hinges on a single article entitled "Canada: Nazis Trigger Jews By Putting Up Posters On Ch--k Church," using a racial slur to refer to the Asian community.

Using antisemitic memes and editorial comments, the article celebrated neo-Nazi posters pasted on a bus stop in British Columbia and insulted a Holocaust survivor who had been interviewed about the incident.

"We need to make sure no SJW [social justice warrior] or Jew can remain safely untriggered," Sohier-Chaput admitted to writing.

"Non-stop Nazism, everywhere, until the very streets are flooded with the tears of our enemies."

Testifying in his own defence on March 1, Sohier-Chaput said he had not written the most inflammatory passages in that article, which he said had been added by his editor.

He claimed his goal was satire and that young people familiar with Internet culture would understand the humour. He said attacking Jewish people and the Holocaust was "necessary" to abolish political correctness.

Lafrenière rejected Sohier-Chaput's defence, arguing "non-stop Nazism" cannot be equated with popular youth culture. And he said regardless of who contributed what to the article, it had to be evaluated in full.

Quebec court Judge Manlio Del Negro agreed with Lafrenière that elements in the article in question are offensive, racist, antisemitic and nationalist, but he reminded the court that it isn't a crime to hold those beliefs.

'We're playing with words,' says defence lawyer

Lafrenière argued that it is incontestable that the Jewish people were the victims of persecution by Nazis during the Second World War, and that violence and hatred are core tenets of Nazism.

He said Sohier-Chaput, as an intelligent, educated and articulate person, couldn't be oblivious to the connotation of "non-stop Nazism, everywhere," especially to people who already hold antisemitic sentiments.

Lafrenière said "willful blindness" to the consequences of the messages isn't a sufficient defence, as "non-stop Nazism everywhere" means, in part, advocating for genocide.

Del Negro interjected, however, that he cannot take judicial notice of all historical facts and needed more evidence showing Sohier-Chaput was inciting hate.

The judge told the prosecutor it would have been useful to have an expert witness to address what could be meant by "non-stop Nazism, everywhere" in the 2017 article.

Poussard, the defence lawyer, also weighed in, saying people now throw around the word Nazi outside of its original meaning, and "genocide wasn't originally central to Nazism."

She said her colleague is confusing the Holocaust with the Nazis.

"We're playing with words," said Poussard.

"According to the dictionary, Nazism is National Socialism. It was an ideology. It was not part of the original plan to exterminate the Jews. I learned in school that six million people died in concentration camps to save money."

"I advise you to stop: what you are saying is not reasonable," Del Negro intervened. "This is out of bounds of what can be said here."

The trial will resume Aug. 29, with time set aside for rebuttals and to settle the debate on historical facts.