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A Swiss man who assaulted a 21-year-old Palestinian Canadian outside an Ottawa defence conference in 2024 has told court he struck the woman while experiencing low-blood sugar and that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
David Henschel, 58, appeared at the Ontario Court of Justice in Ottawa on Friday, having returned from his home in Switzerland for sentencing submissions after pleading guilty in July 2025 to assaulting the anti-war protester.
Crown prosecutors submitted earlier this month that he should spend time in jail for the offence, while Henschel’s lawyer argued for an absolute discharge.
Henschel was an employee of Swiss munitions firm Rheinmetall Waffe Munition Schweiz AG when he attended the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CANSEC) conference in May 2024.
As part of his guilty plea, Henschel outlined how he was walking in the street towards Ottawa’s EY Centre when he encountered a 21-year old Canadian Palestinian woman in a hijab, who told he he was “actively supporting genocide” by attending the conference.
Henschel swung his arm, intentionally striking the protester in the face with a closed fist. The woman dropped to the ground and Henschel continued walking towards the conference, pushing another protester. He was then arrested.
The struck woman said in a victim impact statement that she had been subjected to a “targeted attack meant to hurt and silence me.”
A local leader in Ottawa’s Palestinian community told the court that “the violent targeting of a visibly Muslim woman wearing a hijab during a peaceful protest was not seen as an isolated event, but as part of an alarming and escalating pattern of anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab sentiment that is increasingly manifesting in acts of physical violence.”
In Henschel’s own sentencing submissions, he relied on the evidence of psychiatrist Greg Passey who said that low-blood sugar had caused Henschel to become “irritable”, while his prior military experience had left him with PTSD, specifically a fear of crowds.
During submissions, Passey told the judge that the number of supporters of the victim who were in the courtroom, having passed through security to get there, were making Henschel feel fear at that very moment.
Crown attorney Moiz Karimjee argued that Passey’s diagnoses were based solely on information reported by Henschel. Karimjee discounted the doctor’s findings as rooted in victim-blaming and anti-Palestinian bias.
A judge is expected to sentence Henschel on July 13.