Matthew Althorpe’s actions were “repugnant,” “despicable,” and “absolutely wicked,” his lawyer said.
Matthew Althorpe’s writings represent a “continuous, deep-rooted and decade-long commitment of advancing an extraordinarily violent” white supremacist ideology, federal prosecutor Amber Pashuk said.
Richard Lautens/Toronto Star
By Jacques Gallant Courts and Justice Reporter
A defence lawyer didn’t mince words in a Toronto courtroom on Friday when describing the conduct of his neo-Nazi terrorist client.
Matthew Althorpe’s actions in creating and distributing recruitment videos for a terror group, as well as writing racist manifestos that were relied upon by terrorists carrying out real-world attacks, were “repugnant,” “despicable,” and “absolutely wicked,” said lawyer Robb MacDonald.
But in pushing for a prison sentence of 12 to 14 years at a sentencing hearing, MacDonald urged Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly to consider that Althorpe is remorseful, has abandoned his racist views, and that he was drawn into a world of hate due to a difficult upbringing and undiagnosed mental health issues.
Matthew Althorpe, seen here in his mother’s basement, pleaded guilty in October to terrorism offences.
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
Althorpe, 30, pleaded guilty last year to facilitating terrorist activity, instructing a person to carry out terrorist activity, and wilfully promoting hatred against identifiable groups, as he admitted to making videos for the since-disbanded Atomwaffen Division, an international neo-Nazi group listed as a terrorist entity by a number of countries, including Canada in 2021.
He also created three racist manifestos that remain online today and were cited by at least five people who committed acts of terrorism, including the attacker who killed two people in a shooting outside a Slovakian gay bar in 2022, and a teenager who stabbed five people near a mosque in Turkey in 2024.
And his activities weren’t just limited to the online world. Althorpe also recruited a small group of neo-Nazis in the Greater Hamilton area to train them as a militia, taking them on hikes and engaging in mixed martial arts.
Federal Crown attorney Amber Pashuk requested a term of 20 years’ imprisonment
when the sentencing hearing began last month, when she described Althorpe as the “man behind the curtain” of multiple terror attacks who “unleashed something that cannot be stopped.”
The judge will deliver her decision in March.
Althorpe has been in jail since he was arrested in December 2023, just 11 days before the birth of his daughter, who in the past has been brought to court by Althorpe’s fiancee along with other members of his family.
As part of their investigation, police searched Althorpe’s residence, seizing clothing, books and other materials demonstrating Nazi and fascist ideological beliefs, as well as multiple firearms and dozens of electronic devices. Photos of the Atomwaffen flag hanging on Althorpe’s bedroom wall in his mother’s basement were found on one of his devices.
MacDonald argued Friday that a sentence at the lower range is warranted as
Althorpe isn’t a “locked and loaded” terrorist who assembles weapons and carries out attacks on specific targets, but rather someone who spread hateful ideology.
“The thought that someone like Mr. Althorpe spent years trying to promote harm to minorities in our society is nothing short of despicable,” MacDonald said.
Screengrab of Atomwaffen Division recruitment video produced by Matthew Althorpe.
Ontario Superior Court exhibit
“One of the vile things about white male racists is that they start out in a relatively
privileged socio-economic bracket in our society, and they use that status to look down at others, to bring hate and wish violence on the more vulnerable.”
He said his client was sexually abused as a child, raised in an environment of rampant alcoholism, and had learning disabilities. His mental health issues went undiagnosed until last year, when, as part of the court proceedings, he was assessed by a forensic psychiatrist and diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder, MacDonald said.
But he said Althorpe is also a “man of incredible potential,” who was found by the psychiatrist to have above-average intelligence and verbal expression.
“It begs the question: How does someone who has so many gifts end up so far off the path of decency?” MacDonald asked.
He agued that rather than deal with his struggles through therapy and other supports, his “ticking time bomb” of a client found “peace” through extremist ideology and activities online, entering an echo chamber where “people will pump him up, where he’s welcomed,” and where he doesn’t have to think about his life but rather focus on a “bizarre and wicked” set of ideals.
“He was someone who needed an outlet to channel all of this built-up poison,” MacDonald said. “And he channelled it into extremism. It’s the biggest mistake of his life … I submit what we see is that he was ripe for indoctrination.”
His client has now renounced his racist views and has worked to better himself by completing multiple programs while in jail, MacDonald said. In a lengthy statement hurriedly read to the court, Althorpe said he regrets his actions.
“All of this, from the very start, has brought nothing but suffering to the citizens of the world, my family, and myself, and I would have been a lot better off had I just done the opposite,” he said.
“No one in this courtroom owes me anything. I messed up my whole life. I’ll do my best to build it back better.”
Jacques Gallant is a Taranto-based repartercovering courts,justiceand legal affairs for the Star. Reach him by email at jgallant@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @JacquesGallant
