Anger after court grants delay to man charged with threatening Jewish girls
A large group of Jewish mothers, grandmothers and rabbis packed a courtroom on Tuesday for the appearance of a Montreal man accused of threatening to kill girls at a Jewish girls’ school. Robert Gosselin, 55, has been charged with inciting hatred toward Jewish people and threatening to cause death and bodily harm to Jews after anti-Semitic posts were written on the Facebook page of Le Journal de Montréal. Gosselin sat in the courtroom for about an hour, often with his eyes closed, before telling a judge that he still doesn’t have a lawyer. The judge instructed him to make an appointment with legal aid and return to court on Dec. 17. Julie Gniwisch, who has many grandchildren in Jewish schools, said the fact that Gosselin has not been detained pending his trial shows that the justice system does not take anti-Semitic threats seriously enough. “When something serious happens, everyone wakes up and says: ‘Hey, why didn’t we do something,’ ” said Gniwisch, president of Beth Rivkah, a Jewish girls’ school in Côte-des-Neiges. Other Jewish community members said they were in court to send a message to the prosecutor and the judge that the community takes the threats very seriously. “We’re here to make a statement that when lives are threatened then this must be taken extremely seriously,” said Rabbi Moishe New. Gosselin was arrested in October after the following anti-Semitic comments were posted on social media: “A good Jew is only good for firewood” and “What matters is I will eliminate some Jews by killing an entire school full of Jewish girls. That’s not a threat, it’s a promise!” The Rosemont—La-PetitePatrie borough resident has also been charged with uttering threats toward the family of Quebec singer Céline Dion. A parent whose daughters attend one of Montreal’s seven Jewish girls’ schools said the students have been spooked by the threats. “Last week, there was a (loss of power) for a minute and you had 500 girls terrified because they’re very scared,” said the mother, who asked not to be identified. “He didn’t make a threat to kill all Jews everywhere; he made a promise to kill (Jewish) girls at a school. I think it’s ridiculous that he is allowed to just walk home.” Gosselin was charged on Oct. 26 and released on a $500 bond. The Crown didn’t oppose his release. Under the conditions of his release, Gosselin is not allowed to possess firearms or use social media and must report to a mental health specialist. Several people in the Jewish community are concerned that Gosselin was not ordered to stay away from Jewish schools or Jewish institutions, said David Ouellette, director of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Montreal. “Our legal counsel has transmitted the community’s concerns about this,” Ouellette said on Tuesday. He said CIJA is extremely pleased with the Montreal police’s response to the threats, adding that Gosselin was arrested within 24 hours of police being informed of the posts. “In the aftermath of the Pittsburgh killings, the SPVM redoubled their efforts of vigilance to protect Jewish institutions in
We’re here to make a statement that when lives are threatened then this must be taken extremely seriously.
Montreal and we believe they are doing everything in their power to ensure the safety of our institutions. That being said, we fully share parents’ concerns that there’s no restraining order for him to stay a certain distance from Jewish institutions.” Statistics from the Montreal police show an increase in hate crimes against Jews and the Jewish community reported to police over the past year. Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, there were 36 incidents that the SPVM categorized as hate crimes against Jews. During the same period in 2017, 21 such incidents were reported.