Court gives arms contractor discharge on assault against protester in Ottawa

OTTAWA — An Ontario court judge granted a discharge on Wednesday to a British military veteran and arms contractor over an assault against a young, pro-Palestinian protester at a military equipment show in the nation’s capital.

David Henschel, 58, pleaded guilty last year to an assault that took place in 2024 at the annual CANSEC arms expo in Ottawa when he punched a woman in the head, knocking her to the ground.

The Crown sought two years less a day in prison, three years’ probation and a condition that he not travel to Canada.

Assistant Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee argued the assault shook the local Muslim community and Palestinian diaspora in Ottawa and was fuelled by racist and hateful attitudes.

Justice Norman Boxall disagreed with the claim that the incident was racist and granted the defence’s request for no conviction. He said Henschel’s actions were a “frustrated and emotional response” in the heat of the moment and he has since shown remorse.

Supporters of the victim who watched the proceedings gasped when they heard the ruling, and several in the courtroom shouted angrily as the proceedings concluded.

Henschel now faces a $5,000 fine for failing to appear in person for his sentencing last week.

Karimjee told reporters the sentence was “demonstrably unfit” and the Crown already has filed for appeal.

Defence lawyer James Foord told reporters outside the courthouse after the ruling that it’s a “relief” for his client to have the “matter completed after many, many years of stress.”

Henschel, who lives in Switzerland and worked for munitions firm Rheinmetall Waffe Munition Schweiz AG, travelled to Canada for the convention in 2024.

On the day the assault took place, Henschel had encountered several protesters on his walk from his hotel to the conference centre where the arms show was held, according to the agreed statement of facts.

According to the statement, Henschel walked by one protester and said, “Shalom.” The protester shouted, “Free, free, free Palestine!” and taunted Henschel by asking him to punch him.

Another protester accused him of being a “racist.” The agreed statement of facts says Henschel replied that he is a “racist” and “proud of it.”

After that, he crossed the street and a Canadian-Palestinian woman wearing a hijab quickly approached him and said that attending the convention amounts to supporting a genocide.

He replied, “Shalom,” and she said, “Shame on you, sir.”

Henschel swung his arm at her and struck her in the face with a closed fist, the statement of facts said.

Bystanders recorded the event and shared clips on social media, which were entered as evidence in court.

After striking her, Henschel walked away and pushed another protester to the ground. Then another person hit him in the head with a megaphone before he was arrested.

In her trial testimony, the woman who was assaulted — Sali Hashem, 21 — told the court that Henschel could have simply “walked past like everyone else” but chose to strike her. When she came to, she said, her ears rang and she felt pain.

“He attacked me solely because I was peacefully expressing my beliefs. This is not just an assault but a hate-motivated act,” she told a court hearing on June 5. “That moment will always live in me like a nightmare.”

Karimjee had argued Henschel’s conduct that day required a strong denunciation and jail time.

“He says he’s proud of being a racist and admits to being a racist,” Karimjee told the court in June.

Before the June hearing concluded, Henschel turned and apologized to Hashem.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the harm that I’ve caused,” he said. “I would never intentionally hurt anyone, especially a young lady.”

The defence emphasized that Henschel is a war veteran with the British Armed Forces who experienced trauma during his time in conflict zones. He served in Iraq, Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere before retiring from military life in the mid 2000s.

Foord said the incident in Ottawa doesn’t reflect his client’s lifetime record of protecting other people.

Henschel felt “targeted” by the protesters and a “fight or flight response took over” that led him to act spontaneously, Foord argued.

The embarrassment from this incident caused difficulties for him at work and he resigned, Foord added.

The defence called psychologist Dr. Greg Passey to testify as an expert witness. He said Henschel suffers from severe PTSD, diabetes and hypertension, and perceived the protesters to be provocative and potentially dangerous.

The judge said he did not find Henschel’s actions were caused by his PTSD and diabetes. He said that if the incident had been inspired by racism, there would have been other racist actions in Henschel’s life before this.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press