Windsor man’s views ‘deplorable’ — but he’s no terrorist, defence says

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Even his lawyer concedes Seth Bertrand holds views on gays, Blacks and Jews that are “problematic” and even “deplorable.”

But harbouring such vile thoughts and expressing those views does not make the young Windsor man a terrorist, defence counsel Bobby Russon argued in a downtown courtroom Friday.

After the Crown recently concluded the case for the prosecution, the defence filed an application for a directed verdict, arguing before Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia that the case be dismissed due to an alleged insufficient lack of evidence to convict.

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Following an undercover operation led by the RCMP, Bertrand was charged in 2022 with having “knowingly participated in or contributed to, directly or indirectly, the activities of a terrorist group … for the purpose of enhancing the ability of the terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity.”

At a hearing on Friday, Russon conceded the Crown had “some evidence in relation to some elements” that Bertrand, now 22, participated in or contributed to a listed terrorist group, namely the Atomwaffen Division, aka National Socialist Order. But the defence argued the Crown had provided no evidence in regards to the accused either enhancing or facilitating that banned group’s activities.

During the trial, the prosecution brought up Bertrand’s past that included a string of unsettling incidents in Windsor targeting a gay couple’s home and the Trans Wellness Ontario office in 2021 at around the same time he filled in an application to join Atomwaffen.

“He committed hate crimes and vandalism — not terrorism,” said Russon, adding his young client did not know at the time that the group he was seeking to join had been listed as a banned global terrorist entity.

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While all criminal laws have the “lofty” goal of protecting the public, prosecutor David Schermbrucker told the court that Canada’s “anti-terrorism legislation is dealing with a particular enhanced risk.”

If the threatened activity is carried out, he said, it could cause “serious damage, of a greater magnitude than most other crimes, even murder. We’re talking about multiple murders and widespread damage.”

In arguing against the defence application, Schermbrucker said Parliament designed Canada’s anti-terrorism laws to “prevent acts rather than bring the offenders to justice.

“Prevention is the be-all and end-all of anti-terrorism legislation.”

When it comes to confronting terrorism, Schermbrucker said the Criminal Code lowers the bar and makes it “quite clear that if you commit something short of a criminal act, it still may be a terrorism offence.”

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In a ruling in December, Justice Carroccia rejected defence motions seeking to have key Crown evidence rejected, including the admissibility of a police interview conducted with Bertrand on the day of his arrest, as well as secretly recorded conversations between the accused and an undercover RCMP agent.

The trial included testimony by two undercover RCMP agents involved in a months-long ‘Mr. Big’ sting and whose identities are protected under a court order,

Justice Carroccia delivers her decision on the directed verdict application on Feb. 27. If she sides with the Crown, the next step is setting a date for closing arguments.

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