WARNING: This article includes descriptions and visuals of discriminatory online content directed at Jewish individuals.
Patrick Gordon MacDonald has been given a 10-year prison sentence for promoting hatred, fear, and division by advocating violence against Jewish people and other communities using terrorist propaganda materials such as images, memes, and videos, with the aim of hastening societal breakdown through a desired race conflict.
Having already served three months, including a period of two years on bail living with his parents in Ottawa under strict terms, the 28-year-old now has approximately nine years and nine months left to serve. Although the federal Crown had requested MacDonald to serve half of his sentence before being eligible for parole, Superior Court Justice Robert Smith rejected this plea.
In April, Smith found MacDonald guilty of all three charges against him: engaging in terrorist activities, facilitating terrorist activities, and inciting hatred towards Jewish people for one or more terrorist groups, including the now-defunct Atomwaffen Division and neo-Nazi figure James Mason.
During the sentencing announcement in the courtroom on Monday, MacDonald appeared somber as Smith pronounced the sentence, while his parents sat at the rear of the courtroom, present throughout the trial initiated last year.
The judge remarked that MacDonald aimed to instill “terror in civil society” and that the severity of the sentence should mirror the community’s moral outrage at his offenses. Smith emphasized that the crimes were premeditated over an extended period, inciting others to commit acts of terror, including targeting Jews and others.
Smith acknowledged MacDonald’s apology in court during the sentencing hearing, his disavowal of previous beliefs, participation in counseling, and volunteer work for minority groups while on bail, indicating potential for rehabilitation.
The Crown had urged a 14-year sentence for MacDonald’s “abhorrent” actions, while the defense argued for six to eight years with 10 months’ credit for time served. Both parties have 30 days to decide on any appeals.
‘Stay tuned, shooters’
In 2018 and 2019, at ages 20 and 21, MacDonald contributed to the production of three racist, hate-driven terrorist recruitment videos in Ottawa, Belleville, Ont., and Saint-Ferdinand, Que., among other locations.
One video depicts individuals in skull masks navigating a wooded area and firing weapons. Towards the end, the flags of the U.S., Israel, and European Union are shown on the ground, being set ablaze with an accelerant, intercut with scenes of armed individuals in tactical formation raiding a building.
The video contains a derogatory term against Jews. The final text displayed reads, “Stay tuned shooters.”
Operating under the online moniker Dark Foreigner, MacDonald also created numerous images and memes advocating and commemorating violent acts, sharing them across various social platforms. He maintained accounts on Telegram, where his content was disseminated by administrators of the Terrorwave Refined channel, as well as X, DeviantArt, Instagram, and other platforms.
‘Weaponizing the internet’
Reactions to the sentencing were prompt on