Ottawa man sentenced to house arrest for ‘hateful, dangerous’ antisemitic hate crime

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Paul Koppe will serve 18 months under house arrest after he pleaded guilty to placing dozens of antisemitic posters that spread “fear and hatred” around Ottawa’s west end in 2021.

Koppe, 31, was suffering from depression and was “consumed” by COVID-19 conspiracy theories during the pandemic, according to a mental health assessment prepared for his sentencing hearing.

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His mental state “rendered him susceptible to being consumed by conspiracy theories,” according to the Royal Ottawa Hospital assessment.

Koppe placed more than 80 antisemitic posters and stickers in 20 locations — in public parks, on garbage containers, streetlights and hydro transformers — around Barrhaven and the west end from October to December 2021.

He was seen on surveillance video in November 2021 placing stickers inside a Walmart and later in a Food Basics store on Greenbank Road, where employees reported him to police.

He was seen again placing antisemitic stickers on a garbage bin at Algonquin College, where the entire sequence was captured on surveillance video, and again later the same day at Ben Franklin Place on Centrepointe Drive.

Ottawa police circulated an image of Koppe during their search for a suspect in 2021, and Koppe was arrested Dec. 8, 2021.

Police searched his home and found similar antisemitic sentiments in the posters on his wall and found several items of Nazi-themed paraphernalia, including a letter opener with a swastika and a vintage military hat.

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“Let’s be clear: Mr. Koppe’s behaviour amounted to a hate crime,” said Ontario Court Justice Matthew Webber during Koppe’s sentencing hearing last week.

“He harmed a community at large by his activities. His beliefs that he disseminated were deplorable, hateful, dangerous and in every respect unacceptable in our community.”

The Ottawa Police Service’s hate and bias crime unit initially charged Koppe with 26 counts of hate-motivated mischief. The charge was upgraded in June 2022 to the wilful promotion of hatred, a charge that required the approval of Ontario’s attorney general.

Koppe pleaded guilty in 2023 to the wilful promotion of hatred.

He expressed remorse during a sentencing hearing in May, apologized to the court and to the community, and promised he would never again engage in hateful acts.

Webber said he accepted that Koppe was genuine in his remorse.

Royal Ottawa Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Helen Ward, who has been treating Koppe, wrote in her assessment that Koppe “no longer subscribes to any of the anti-Semitic beliefs that motivated his crimes.”

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Koppe is “angry at himself for what he did,” Webber said, and he accepts personal responsibility.

During a sentencing hearing in January, Crown prosecutor Tim Wightman had argued for a jail term of six to nine months.

Koppe’s defence lawyer, Rodney Sellar, proposed a lengthy conditional sentence followed by a period of probation.

Webber imposed a conditional sentence last week that spared Koppe jail time, but includes 18 months of house arrest, followed by two years of probation.

“Hate-mongering will not be tolerated in our community, and when it does occur, such crimes will be sentenced harshly,” Webber said.

He cited passages of an “eloquently written” letter signed by numerous members of Ottawa’s senior Jewish leadership expressing the “true impact” of Koppe’s crime.

“The injuries to the hearts, minds and souls of community members are deep, and sadly, are now woven into the fabric of intergenerational trauma. They sparked fear and hurt across the community,” according to the letter, filed with the court in January.

“I accept without reservation that (Koppe’s) antisemitic acts would have inflicted emotional scars on the Jewish community and would have left fear, pain and mistrust in their wake,” Webber said in rendering his sentence.

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“His behaviour amounted to a sustained intentional hate crime. His offending occurred over multiple days, which provided him multiple opportunities to cease such behaviour on his own accord. He did not do so. His crimes ceased with his arrest.”

Koppe has completed more than 130 hours of community service since his arrest, his defence lawyer said.

Webber added another 120 hours of community service as part of his sentence.

The 18-month term of house arrest will include “a significant deprivation of liberty,” the judge said, and any breach could mean Koppe would spend the remainder of his sentence behind bars.

He will be “bound by home confinement” for the entire 18 months, Webber said, with exceptions granted for employment, medical appointments and to keep up with counselling and treatment.

Koppe was ordered to keep the peace and maintain good behaviour, and must notify his court-appointed supervisor of any change in address or employment. He was banned from possessing weapons and from consuming alcohol or drugs.

“You can’t possess or consume alcohol, drugs or cannabis because you’re (technically) in jail,” Webber told Koppe. “You wouldn’t be allowed to consume any of those if you were locked up on Innes Road (at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre) and you won’t be allowed to consume any of those while on this sentence.”

ahelmer@postmedia.com

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