Iain Aspenlieder's lawyer said the act was an attempt to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and was not motivated by hate.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
A former lawyer for the City of Ottawa who desecrated the National Holocaust Monument by splashing it with red paint and scrawling the words FEED ME in large red block letters, has pleaded guilty to mischief and been released on bail to his parents’ house.
Iain Aspenlieder, who is expected to be sentenced later this year, last month vandalized the memorial to six million Jews killed by the Nazi regime. His lawyer said Friday that the act was an attempt to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and was not motivated by hate.
Mr. Aspenlieder, 46, defaced the memorial on June 9, riding there on a bicycle in the early hours of the morning with three cans of bright red paint, which he left at the scene, along with a red handprint.
The former city lawyer, who according to the Ontario Sunshine List was making $148,000 a year, was on leave at the time he defaced the monument. The City of Ottawa has since confirmed that Mr. Aspenlieder had been fired.
The defacement of the memorial, which was inaugurated in September, 2017, was widely condemned, including by Prime Minister Mark Carney who said at the time that he was “appalled” by the vandalism.
It was investigated by Ottawa Police’s hate-crimes and bias unit. Officers found surveillance footage of Mr. Aspenlieder purchasing the three cans of red paint the previous day from an Ottawa hardware store.
At the time of his arrest at his home on June 27, he was wearing a shirt that had red paint on it. He told police “I am wearing incriminating evidence,” according to court documents.
Police seized a backpack with a Palestinian flag sticking out of it, which also bore traces of red paint, as well as on a cap decorated with flowers, and running shoes with paint splatters.
Mr. Aspenlieder has pleaded guilty to mischief to a war memorial. He had also been charged with mischief over $5,000 and harassment by threatening conduct, but those charges are expected to be withdrawn.
He was previously denied bail after telling the court that he was on a hunger strike, which he has since ended. On Friday, he was released on bail with strict conditions to his parents’ house.
The conditions, which he agreed to, confine him to his parents’ property and prevent him from taking part in any protests, accessing social media or discussing the situation in Gaza, which the court heard he is preoccupied by and could prove a trigger.
Justice Anne London-Weinstein expressed concern about the agreed-upon restrictions on discussing the situation in Gaza, which she said many people were talking about, and raised questions about freedom of speech.
A short court update on his case has been scheduled for September and Mr. Aspenlieder’s defence lawyer Michael Spratt suggested the matter could be revisited.
Mr. Spratt said his client, who has denied mental-health issues, has “accepted responsibility for his actions.”
“When he is sentenced later this year, the court will hear that his conduct, while unlawful, was driven by a profound sense of compassion and moral urgency – not by hatred or prejudice. He looks forward to demonstrating that his motivation was rooted in a desire to call attention to human suffering, not to cause harm or spread intolerance,” he said.
According to the Law Society of Ontario website, he is “suspended administratively” and not permitted to practise law.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a statement Friday that it was pleased by the swift response by Ottawa Police’s hate-crimes unit to the desecration of the memorial.
The ”defacement of the National Holocaust Monument was not just vile – it echoed the hatred that led to history’s greatest crime," the centre said.