Jewish groups speak out against online hate by Brantford's Leslie Bory

Leslie Bory was sentenced to the equivalent of almost three years in jail for inciting hatred
Jewish groups speak out against online hate by Brantford's Leslie Bory Brantford's Leslie Bory argued at his trial that no one listened to his rambling, hateful online rants but a number of people from prominent Canadian organizations supporting Jews clearly disagree.

 Leslie Bory was sentenced to the equivalent of almost three years in jail for inciting hatred and threatening Jews, police and politicians.

Brantford’s Leslie Bory argued at his trial that no one listened to his rambling, hateful online rants but a number of people from prominent Canadian organizations supporting Jews clearly disagree. 

On Monday in Superior Court, a Jewish Canadian survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp was joined by representatives from the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation (CAEF), B’nai Brith Canada and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies to urge the judge in Bory’s case to give him the maximum penalty for his crimes of threatening Jews, police, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and opposition leader Pierre Poilievre. Instead,
Justice James Ramsay gave Bory a time-served sentence of about two years plus one more year of probation. “I was disappointed in the result, given that the Crown had asked for … a total of seven years,”  Michael Teper, a Canadian Jew whose grandmother survived Auschwitz, told the Expositor.  

“Typically, a maximum sentence is imposed for the worst cases involving the worst offenders. Mr. Bory’s crimes, which consisted of multiple incidents, including repeated threats of death, coupled with his extensive collection of firearms, certainly put him close to that category.”

 The community victim impact statements were delivered by those from the organizations, along with statements from Rabbi Stephen Wise from ShaareiBeth-El in Oakville and another from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. 

The speakers pointed out that Bory’s denials of the Holocaust and rants against Jews should receive the same severe punishment as they would if committed against a Black, Indigenous or LGBTQ community.   

“I walked out of the courthouse feeling thatthe Jewish community in Canada didn’t receive that full measure of equality, ”said Teper. In particular, 95-year-old Nate Lipcigar told the court how painful it had been to listen to the “hateful propaganda spewed” by Bory, saying it had been heard before, in 1933. “We thought it was harmless. Unfortunately it was not harmless. Today we know such outbursts are dangerous and lead to murder and genocide.” Lipcigar was taken to Auschwitz at the age of 13 and his mother and sister were murdered there. 

“The hatred spewed by people such as Mr. Bory is dangerous to all.” Bory, now55, is a would-be politician known for his outrageous rhetoric and large lawn signs at his Mohawk Street home. During his trial, he took to the stand to testify about what his lawyer called a “wide range of grievances” that involved global politics, masking, COVID, Zionists and the World Economic Forum. 
Bory argued that his YouTube and later BitChute videos, filmed with the Canadian flag in the background, were “theatre” designed to get more viewers to his channel, so he ramped up his comments, saying COVID vaccines were the “Jew-jab” and the Holocaust was the “holo-hoax”. 
The Crown attorney in the case said Bory used his words, videos and lawn signs to specifically advocate for genocide against Jewish people. After the sentencing, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center released a statement decrying the leniency of the sentence, saying it was both grateful to the Brantford Police and Crown prosecutors for taking Bory’s threats seriously but concerned the sentence didn’t reflect “the severity” of Bory’s crimes.  

“This sentence … sends a troubling message about the consequences of promoting hatred and violence,” said Jaime Kirzner-Roberts. “Advocating genocide is one of the most serious crimes imaginable.

Once again, the Jewish community is left with the disturbing impression that threats to our safety are not being met with the seriousness they deserve by Canada’s justice system.” Referring to Bory’s podcasts as “ravings” and “mind-numbingly boring”, Justice Ramsay said the Jewish community is right to be concerned about his comments and to expect protection from the courts. But, he noted, judges must follow the precedents set in previous similar cases. 

“I hope the accused has listened to Nate Lipcigar,” Ramsay said to Bory.   “He was an eyewitness to the Holocaust, a real person who was in prison. His real family was murdered. There’s a mountain of documentary evidence for the Holocaust and no excuse for denying it.” Bory was given automatic credit of one-and-a-half days for each day of time he already served. Time that his lawyer said was “inhumane” as he was almost always triple-bunked and locked down in a tiny cell because he couldn’t connect with anyone willing to be his surety. 

“He had never been to jail before, he was injured twice and hospitalized once when he was hit on the head and had stitches,” said Ian McCuaig. “He also described the deaths on his unit, the fights and the traumatizing nature of being exposed to overdoses and conflict.” 

Ramsay agreed to the time-served, calculated at almost three years but ordered Bory couldn’t live in a residence where firearms are present. When arrested, Bory and his wife had a large number of handguns, rifles and ammunition stored properly in their home. 

Bory’s weapons, ammo, lawn signs, two computers, hard drive and camera were all ordered to be forfeited.